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THE DAFYOMI DISCUSSION LIST
brought to you by Kollel Iyun Hadaf of Yerushalayim
Rosh Kollel: Rabbi Mordecai Kornfeld
d...@dafyomi.co.il
[REPLY TO THIS MESSAGE TO DISCUSS THE DAF WITH THE KOLLEL]
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Subject: Burial Shrouds
Petri Paavola
(a) I'm doing research about Jewish traditional burial manners. I
have heard about a claim that the Jews washed body seven times before
burial. I don't believe on this claim. Can you help me and confirm me
that this claim about seven times washing is an incorrect claim. I
believe that the Jews washes dead ones only once.
(b) The Shroud of Turin represents a man who is covering his
genitals. I have studied that the Jews didn't bury their dead ones
placing hands over genitals, but hands folded across the chest. I
have also heard that covering genitals of dead ones is sacrilege.
(c) Some claim is that Jesus' disciples took his burial clothes and
saved them. I don't believe this claim. Do you know what happens to
burial clothes? Do they remain in the tomb, or are they destroyed -
what happens to burial clothes?
Petri Paavola , Finland
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The Kollel replies:
Dear Petri,
Let me start by making a general point. The customs surrounding
Jewish burial are quite diverse and vary from community to community
(every community has its own burial society which carefully adheres
to a set of customs that have been passed down to it from previous
generations) and there is very little written down in the classical
texts of Jewish law regarding these customs. Therefore it is hard to
give definitive answers to any of your questions. That being said, I
will do my best to answer your questions in the order you asked them.
My source of information is coming, for the most part, from a single
book - Chachmas Adam - written over two hundred years ago in
Lithuania by one of the prominent rabbis in that area.
(a) I could very well believe that there are communities that do wash
the body seven times, but this would be for esoteric reasons. The
basic requirement is to wash the body thoroughly once.
(b) I have found two different opinions about the correct way to
place the arms: either straight down along the body or on the chest.
I couldn't find any source for the way you mention.
(c) The body is wrapped in simple white linen cloth, and if it is a
man than he is also wrapped in a wool prayer shawl. Since the body
is not disturbed once it is buried, these clothes remain in the grave
with the body.
Sincerely,
Yonasan Sigler
*This is not a Psak Halachah (an official legal ruling)
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