Gravesites and memorials of Libyan Jews: alternative versions of the sacralization of space in Judaism

The patterns of sanctification of time and of space in Jewish culture are ancient. Their form, content, degree of salience, and interrelationship have
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varied under different historical circumstances (Davies 1982). An emphasis on time was probably highlighted by the long diaspora existence during which Jews did not
control the territories within which they lived (Zerubavel 1981:105). Heschel's (1951) characterization of Jewish ritual as architecture in time is an apt expression of
that emphasis. At the same time, the sanctification of space was never totally submerged in Jewish consciousness (Boyarin 1991:18–19). Both synagogues and
cemeteries were ever present physical and territorial expressions of sanctity.
The emergence of modern Jewish nationalism, of course, brought notions of spatial sanctity to the fore. The tangibility and concreteness of territory make it a natural
candidate for conflict. This is obviously the case when territory is the basis of important social and strategic resources, but also may be seen in the struggle for control
of symbolic dimensions of territory (Kimmerling 1983). Observers of North African life have pointed to cases in which both Jews and Muslims venerate the same
saint's shrine, seeing in this an indicator of symbiosis. It is less often noted that such shrines may also be sites of contestation of the religious identity of the saint (Shinar
1980). In the European world, the recent controversy over the convent in Auschwitz (Bartoszewski 1990) provides another example of the intertwining of spiritual
debate with a sense of place.
Sites of death, and those memorializing the dead, are thus both concrete and, at the same time, open to considerable symbolic reworking. They take on different
meanings not only across different traditions, but within a given tradition. A study comparing two Jewish cemeteries in a Midwestern city in the United States shows
how distinctive conceptions of Judaism are inscribed in each (Gradwohl and Gradwohl 1988). Similarly, in Israel today, the enhanced attachment to land that is a
correlate of national sovereignty does not obliterate alternate readings of territorial sanctity. Important diaspora communities continue to exist, side by side with a
Jewish state. They, and the individuals who comprise them, formulate variant views of Judaism, and construct appropriate symbols locating their lives in Jewish space.
In the present chapter we follow a complex set of developments involving the memorialization of gravesites among the Jews of Libya. Our discussion revolves around
the symbolic and political program of one individual. Not only do his actions and views exhibit an outlook that differs from simple nationalism, but his approach is
dynamic and evolved over time. We thus explore the ideology of one Libyan Jew, named Raffaello, whose concerns with the graves of his family and ancestors is one
element of an elaborate worldview linking, among other things, both memory and plans for the future. Understanding this worldview will also provide the opportunity
to reflect upon diverse currents of meaning in the symbolism of gravesites within Jewish and Israeli culture at large