Throughout the Ukraine, Poland, Moldova, Turkey, Greece, Morocco and Bulgaria are scattered hundreds of kivrei tzadikim – neglected, desecrated, and dishonored for decades.  Ohelim have been destroyed, gravestones desecrated and entire cemeteries turned into pastures for cattle.

From the time that the splendor of European Jewry was destroyed and that Communist darkness descended over Eastern Europe, the cemeteries in the towns and villages, the kivrei tzadikim scattered there – and the communal graves found there – have been completely neglected.

Slowly, slowly the fences have disappeared, trees have grown wild, monuments have been broken – accidentally and on purpose by neighbors – and cemeteries have been entirely plowed over. The ohelim of tzaddikim from past generations and their gravestones have been smashed and destroyed.  Often there has not even remained a sign that here, in this place, is buried one of the Gedolim of the generations or that in this place there was once a cemetery.

Instead of preserving the memory and the dignity of the deceased, the righteous of previous generations who were murdered in wild riots and unspeakable calamities, there have emerged high-rise buildings, parking lots and pastures. The clock is ticking, and most of the Jewish cemeteries in Eastern Europe have been desecrated.

There is now a hand erecting a fence around a cemetery, building another ohel over the gravesite of a tzadik, purchasing another piece of land, installing lighting, improving pathways, cutting down wild trees, maintaining and most importantly rescuing the gravesites of the great and glorious of our nation, whose resting places have been disgraced.

That hand is Agudas Ohalei Tzadikim.