Bituach Leumi is slated to submit a multi-year plan for
handicapped access to mikvo'os across the country. In
the initial stage a mikveh with handicapped access
will be built in Jerusalem.
The plan was discussed at a meeting held at the office of
Deputy Welfare Minister MK Rabbi Avrohom Ravitz. Participants
included Bituach Leumi Director Dr. Yigal Ben Shalom;
ministerial advisors and assistants Rabbi Meir Hirshman and
Rabbi Yosef Graz; Rabbi Menachem Blumenthal, director of the
mikvo'os department at the Jerusalem Religious
Council; Tuvia Blinshtetin, chairman of the Administration
for Religious Facilities; Yitzchok Hanau, director of the
Department of Religious Facilities for the City of Jerusalem;
Mrs. B. Morgenstein, director of the Foundations Department;
Gershon Banai, director of the Foundation for the Development
of Services for the Handicapped; and ranking officials from
the Welfare Ministry and Bituach Leumi.
Rabbi Ravitz reached a decision to assign a team from the
City of Jerusalem and Bituach Leumi to determine the location
of the mikveh to be built, the working guidelines and
funding approval. At the request of Deputy Minister Ravitz
bureaucratic procedures will be accelerated to ensure the
plan to build and renovate the mikvo'os is not harmed.
According to Dr. Ben Shalom the improvements should not take
more than three months.
At the meeting there was also a discussion on setting aside a
section of the cemetery in Givat Shaul for honorable
citizens. Following a request by Rabbi Ravitz city officials
will request approval from the Interior Ministry and the
Department of Religion at the Prime Minister's Office to
grant the city recognition as a society (chevra) in
terms of burial arrangements. Only then would Bituach Leumi
be able to transfer burial payments to the City of
Jerusalem.
