Israel:- Petah Tikva…

Petah Tikva is a city of about 200,000 residents and is located near Tel Aviv and Herzlya (our city). Eileen’s auto mechanic/alarm guy is located there. While she was taking care of business I walked about 200 meters (hey, we’re in Israel) and found this relic. located amongst an orange grove, the contrast of the old and new was striking to me.

Continuing less than a kilometer from this site I came upon the cemetery that serves the residents of Petah Tikva. Each city or community has a cemetery and all residents are eligible to be buried there.

This particular gravesite stood out because of the number of stones that have been placed on it. The placing of stones on a Jewish grave is a tradition that nobody knows for sure why it started. Some believe that the stones help keep the body from moving. Others say that in Israel, people were asked to bring a stone in place of flowers. The most sacred place for Jews, the Western Wall, is actually a pile of arranged stones. Whatever one believes, this person appeared to be very popular, or, so unpopular that they wanted to make sure his soul never rose again.