Yerushalayim…A distinguished delegation of leaders of the International Committee for Har Hazeisim will sign an historic agreement with the Israeli Government and the Municipality of Yerushalayim to build a magnificent Visitor Education Center on Har Hazeisim on March 6th. The delegation will be headed by Menachem and Avrohom Lubinsky, the two co-chairs of the ICHH who founded the international organization in May 2010.
The highlight of the events that will lead to the construction of the historic Center will be a ceremony at City Hall, led by Mayor Moshe Lion, a strong supporter of the joint project. The new building will be a major factor in securing and developing the holy 3000-year-old cemetery for years to come. A signing ceremony with the Israeli government will be led by Zev Elkin, the Minister of Jerusalem Affairs, who has been a staunch supporter of the plan to build such a center as a means “of securing the holiest cemetery for the Jewish people.”
The 3-story building will be built just outside one of the main entrances to Har Hazeisim. It will include an amphitheater with a magnificent view of the entire area including the Har Habayis. The Center will also feature a beautiful Bais Hakneses where visitors will be able to daven, a computer center to locate kvarim, a lecture hall, café, and information center. It is scheduled to open in the second half of 2023, according to the Jerusalem Development Authority which is overseeing the construction of the joint project between the ICHH and the government.
Although the project has been planned for nearly a decade, final plans were made during a recent visit by Dr. Paul Rosenstock and Dov Fishoff, Vice Chairs of the ICHH and key driving force of the historic endeavor. The two leaders were encouraged to proceed by Major General (Res.) Uzi Dayan, a member of the Israel Board of the Har Hazeisim Committee. The decorated major general told them “Building this center will provide the ultimate security that the mountain needs to be free of vandalism and hooligans.”
Menachem Lubinsky explained that the new center is expected to attract more than 1 million visitors a year, which in itself will be a major contributor to security. But he noted that the Visitor Education Center will also include a new permanent state of the art security center to be manned by the Israel Police. “Instead of constantly changing personalities and even governments, this Center will be a permanent hub for visitors and security,” Mr. Lubinsky said.
Shalom Lerner, Director of the ICHH, said that the project had the strong support of security experts, the Knesset, and all levels of government. He and the Lubinsky brothers had high praise for the many families, mostly in the USA and Canada, who came forward to make major dedications in the center as a partnership between the Jewish community worldwide and the Governments of Israel and Yerushalyim. “We know that the 150,000 kedoshim who are buried there can now truly rest in peace,” they said.
Founded in 2010, the ICHH is credited with greatly improving security on Har Hazeisim where some 150,000 Jews dating back to the Nevi’im are buried. Some of the measures that ICHH was instrumental in instituting were a network of 176 surveillance cameras, a local police station, new fencing, and the deployment of a Border Patrol unit amongst other improvements.
