21 December 2008
All archaeological works at the site of a medieval Jewish cemetery in Toledo have been suspended after the Spanish government ordered a halt at the site.
The decision taken Friday, December 19, followed high-level meetings at the Spanish foreign ministry in Madrid with representatives of the Federation of Jewish Communities in Spain, the Conference of Spanish Rabbis, the Conference of European Rabbis (CER) and the Committee for the Preservation of Jewish Cemeteries in Europe (CPJCE).
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Lo Tishkach Executive Director Philip Carmel had received a plea from the Jewish community in Spain and from the foreign ministry to broker an agreement acceptable to all opinions of Jewish law. The CER and CPJCE therefore immediately travelled to Spain at which the agreement was hammered out. |
“We welcome this as a positive step from the Spanish government and in particular, the agreement of the cultural authorities in the Toledo region to halt work pending a solution which respects Jewish law and tradition,” said Carmel, who attended the meeting on behalf of the CER.
“The top halachic experts in Europe will discuss this now but in the right circumstances – not under the threat of continuing desecration at the site – but in the spirit of goodwill from all parties to find a solution,” he added.
At its meeting on December 18 in Madrid with Ambassador Ana Salomon of the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Carmel was joined by Rabbi Avraham Ginsburg, Executive Director of the Committee for the Preservation of Jewish Cemeteries in Europe, and representatives of the Spanish Council of Rabbis and the Federation of Spanish Jewish Communities.
Talks are continuing with the authorities in Madrid and Toledo to find a comprehensive solution to this issue in the coming days.
Lo Tishkach, the Conference of European Rabbis and the CPJCE had also demanded that all further actions by the authorities in Toledo and by the Spanish government concerning the Jewish cemetery in Toledo and all Jewish cemeteries in Spain be co-ordinated with the full approval of the local Jewish community and its religious leaders.
