Rebbe in a Box!
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
Praying by the graves of long-deceased holy men is a time-honored Jewish practice, especially on the recent holiday of Lag b’Omer, when thousands flock to the resting place of R’ Shimon Bar Yochai in Meron. But what about kohanim, who are not allowed to come into contact with the dead, or even enter a cemetery?
Until now, they were forced to keep their distance. But one Hassidic rebbe, the leader of the Toldos Aaron sect, has come up with an — ahem — outside the box solution. According to the Israeli website matzav.com, the Rebbe found a way around the prohibition by traveling to Meron in a wooden crate, loaded on the back of a pickup truck, which served as a barrier between himself and the ritual impurity of the graves. Now that’s traveling in (kosher) style!
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