אפטא — מצבת זכרון לרבי מאיר הלוי מאפטא בעל 'אור לשמים'

Opatów — Cenotaph for Reb Meir HaLevi of Apta, the Ohr LaShamayim

Opatów (Apta) · אפטא

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Visitor experience

Practical notes from visitors — access, directions, and the condition of the site.

How to get there

Site of the Jewish cemetery, ul. Kopernika, Opatów, Opatów County, Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, Poland — confirm exact location locally

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The exact grave coordinates are not confirmed yet — go by the address and ask locally. We don't publish a coordinate we haven't checked.

1.There is no kever to stand at here and no ohel. The Germans destroyed this cemetery and its matzevot were looted and built into walls around the town; Reb Meir HaLevi's individual grave cannot be identified today, so do not come expecting a marked resting place.
2.What stands on the ground on ul. Kopernika is a cenotaph — a memorial stone, not a grave — built in 2022 from recovered matzeva fragments, together with a commemorative plaque and a lapidarium of roughly 25 to 30 salvaged stones and fragments, 18 of them set into a new concrete base shaped like a matzeva and laid flat.
3.Meir Bulka of J-nerations came here specifically to try to find this Rebbe's grave and instead found tombstone fragments built into a wall between the town's auditorium and cultural centre; the wall was dismantled and the stones brought back in a ceremony marking 80 years since the Opatów ghetto was destroyed.
4.Do not confuse this with the other Apter Rov: the famous Ohev Yisroel, Reb Avraham Yehoshua Heshel, served in Opatów but is buried in Medzhibozh in Ukraine, beside the Baal Shem Tov. Two different Apter rebbes, two different countries — and confirm with the Opatów tourist office exactly where the lapidarium stands before you drive.

U.S. State Department · Poland

Level 1: Exercise Normal Precautions

Reissued after periodic review with minor edits. Exercise normal precautions in Poland. Read the country information page for additional information on travel to Poland. If you decide to travel to Poland: Enroll in the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP) to receive messages and Alerts from the U.S. Embassy and mak…

Updated Jun 5, 2025. Read the full advisory →

Closest airports

The three nearest airports with scheduled service — tap for exact driving or transit time.

Rzeszów (RZE)Rzeszów-Jasionka· 88 km · 55 mi straight-line· regional
🚗 By car →🚆 Public transit →
Lublin (LUZ)Lublin· 102 km · 64 mi straight-line· regional
🚗 By car →🚆 Public transit →
Krakow (KRK)John Paul II International· 142 km · 88 mi straight-line· major hub
🚗 By car →🚆 Public transit →

Who is buried here

Known kevarim

רבי מאיר הלוי ראטענבערג מאפטא

Rabbi Meir HaLevi Rotenberg of Apta

The Ohr LaShamayim

אור לשמים

Son of Reb Shmuel, he was rav of Stopnica and then of Apta (Opatów) and a talmid of the Chozeh of Lublin; his Torah on chumash, written in the Pardes method and including responsa, was printed as Ohr LaShamayim, and he died and was buried in Apta. He is NOT the Ohev Yisroel, Reb Avraham Yehoshua Heshel, the other Apter Rebbe, who is buried in Medzhibozh, Ukraine.

Verification and source

No public access contact has been verified for this cemetery yet.

Read the cemetery source →