Navigating Sprawling Israeli Cemeteries─with GPS?

Going to one of Israel’s cemeteries at this time of year is quite an experience. Around the chagim, many people visit the graves of dead forebears. Yet Israel’s cemeteries are commonly large and sprawling and people paying their respects often struggle to find the grave they are looking for. On any given day, in any given cemetery, you will see flocks of visitors roaming around lost. But if some high-tech innovations by burial societies pan out, we may soon be directed to the correct grave by GPS or text message. Chevra Kadisha, in Tel Aviv, has created an SMS grave-locator that tells visitors where graves are located.

“Many times the people who are coming to the cemeteries are grand children or great grandchildren with no concept of where to look,” Rabbi Berel Wein, founder and director of the Destiny Foundation, told the Media Line. “Anything that could help them [families looking for a gravesite] would be great.”