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Rabbi Dovid Shmidl, Asra Kadisha Leader Who Guarded Jewish Graves, Dies at 92

Mourners in Bnei Brak and Jerusalem honored a figure whose campaigns to shield graves shaped ultra-Orthodox activism.

Overview

  • Large crowds attended his funeral in Bnei Brak and Jerusalem, where eulogies were delivered in Yiddish at his request.
  • He died at 92 and was praised by Israeli minister Meir Porush as a guardian of burial sanctity.
  • He led Asra Kadisha, a group that mobilizes to halt digs, construction, or autopsies when they may disturb Jewish graves.
  • His activism began in the 1950s and included a 1979 arrest during protests over alleged grave disturbance at the Har Shenan military site.
  • Beyond activism, he ran the Mesivta d’Rabbi Yochanan kollel in Tiberias and later Komemiyut and worked on the Shabsi Frankel Rambam and Talmud editorial projects.