Har HaMenuchot: A Family Guide to Jerusalem’s Largest Jewish Cemetery
Har HaMenuchot (the “Mount of Rest”) sits at the western entrance to Jerusalem, above the neighborhood of Givat Shaul. Opened in the early 1950s, it has grown into the largest Jewish cemetery in Jerusalem and the resting place of many tens of thousands of Jews, among them some of the greatest Torah leaders of recent generations.
History of Har HaMenuchot
After the War of Independence in 1948, the ancient cemetery on Har HaZeitim (the Mount of Olives) was cut off from Jewish Jerusalem. The city needed a new burial ground, and the hillside at Givat Shaul was set aside for that purpose. Over the following decades Har HaMenuchot expanded across the entire ridge, with terraced sections, multi-level burial structures and, more recently, an underground burial complex built to conserve land in the holy city.
Who Is Buried There
Har HaMenuchot is the resting place of Gedolei Yisrael including Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach and Rav Yosef Shalom Elyashiv, zecher tzaddikim livracha, alongside rabbanim, roshei yeshiva and ordinary Jerusalem families. Many families abroad have parents and grandparents buried here who made aliyah late in life or asked to be brought to Jerusalem for burial.
Finding a Grave at Har HaMenuchot
The cemetery is divided among several chevra kadisha societies (Ashkenazi, Sephardi and community-specific), and each keeps its own records of blocks (gush), rows and plot numbers. If you have the name of the deceased, the date of passing and ideally the burial society, the grave can usually be located precisely. Our team walks these sections every week and knows how to find even older, harder-to-reach plots.
Arranging a Minyan at Har HaMenuchot from Abroad
Many families cannot travel to Israel for a yahrzeit, the shloshim or the end of the first year. We bring a full minyan of yeshiva students to the grave to say Kaddish, Tehillim and El Malei Rachamim, light a candle, and send you photos and video by WhatsApp the same day. Read our step-by-step guide to arranging Kaddish at a grave in Jerusalem when you live abroad, or prepare a personal reading with our free Tehillim by Name tool.
Ready to arrange a visit? Contact us with the name of your loved one and the date, and we will take care of everything at Har HaMenuchot.
See our packages: compare our Kaddish and graveside minyan services in Jerusalem, from a single yahrzeit visit to full-day kollel learning. Also read our guide to Sanhedria Cemetery.
Related guides: Tehillim at the grave · What happens when we visit a grave for you · How to find the yahrzeit date