Rabbinical council says plane crash victims’ families can begin mourning process

A special rabbinical court ruled Sunday that the families of the two Israeli men killed in last month’s Ethiopian Airlines plane crash may begin the traditional mourning process for their loved ones, even though the victims’ remains have yet to be identified.

The rabbinic body led by Sephardic Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef determined that “the families must sit (the seven-day) shiva for their loved ones, who according to the testimonies and evidence presented to the court were on the plane” that went down on March 10 in Ethiopia.

The Israelis killed in the crash were identified as Avraham Matsliah, 49, from Maale Adumim, and Shimon Reem, 55, of Zichron Yaakov.

The religious panel had convened in order to determine whether the widows of the two men may remarry. However, in a statement explaining the ruling, the rabbis said that they would not be able to reach a conclusion on that matter until “after the completion of the process of identifying the remains of the bodies that will be found” at the crash site. Thus far, no remains of Matsliah and Re’em have been uncovered, though the identification process is ongoing.

The rabbinical court ordered by Yosef is required to prove conclusively that the men got on the plane and died in the crash on March 10 near Addis Ababa. Without such proof, the women will remain agunot, or “chained” wives, who are prevented from remarrying under Jewish law.

Following the Sunday court ruling, the families told Hebrew media that they had begun sitting shiva and carrying out the various other religious mourning rituals.

Volunteers from Israel’s Zaka search-and-rescue organization and an Israeli forensics team have had limited access to the crash site and have been unable to complete the research necessary for the rabbinical court.

Airline officials earlier this month began delivering 2-pound bags of scorched earth from the crash site to the bereaved families to bury in place of their loved ones’ bodies. Death certificates are expected to be issued in the coming days.

On Friday, the Wall Street Journal reported that investigators probing the fatal crash of a Boeing 737 Max in Ethiopia have reached a preliminary conclusion that a suspect anti-stall prevention system activated shortly before the aircraft nose-dived to the ground had misfired.

JTA contributed to this report.