The message to the family
Monumental mason's malevolent message
A Lod tombstone is engraved with a large message declaring that the family had not paid for the gravestone; the Ministry of Religious Affairs removes the text; the man who brought attention to it offers to pay the money owed.
Attending the funeral of his friend's mother in a Lod cemetery, Izik Uzana noticed a gravestone that had a surprising message in large letters: "For the family's information: The money was not paid for the tombstone."
Uzana took a picture and posted it to the Facebook page of Emek Lod's Religious Council. He commented along with the picture, "Is there no limit? Why have you let some mason or another express his frustration in such a way? This is why there are courts. Why are you permitting punishing the dead?"
The picture Uzana uploaded to Facebook
Uzana's post was widely liked and shared, and it reached the attention of the Ministry of Religious Services, headed by David Azulai (Shas). His ministry released a statement that explained, "The text on the tombstone was made by a monumental mason, and he is responsible for it. There is no connection between the burial society/the religious council and the test. However, the ministry, on instruction from Minister David Azulai, will check what's behind all this, and we'll ask to have the text removed, as it humiliates the dead."
The grave Friday, after the message was removed (Photo: Asaf Zagrizak)
The text was indeed removed on Friday morning.
Speaking to Ynet, Uzana expressed his satisfaction that the hurtful words had been taken off the deceased's grave, saying, "What's important is that it worked. I hope that situations like this won't repeat themselves."
He added that Azulai had promised him by telephone after seeing the Facebook post that "the text would be removed that very day." Uzana also said that he intended to find out who was the mason responsible for the tombstone and pay him the money owed, regardless of his spiteful message. "If he's an idiot, let him be an idiot who received money for what he did. I don't judge anybody."
Lod Mayor Revivoy threatened to publish the name of the responsible monumental mason, writing on his Facebook page on Friday, "After the owner of the monument company is located, I'm considering publishing his name, because a person like that doesn't deserve to work in a sanctified place where high sensitivity is required. There are sufficient legal avenues to receive payment for your work, but certainly not like that."
