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THE DAFYOMI DISCUSSION LIST
brought to you by Kollel Iyun Hadaf of Yerushalayim
Rosh Kollel: Rabbi Mordecai Kornfeld
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Sources for upkeep of Jewish graves
Martin Horwitz <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> asked:
Our organization will be taking a group of Jewish students to Kharkov,
Ukraine to work in the Jewish community there for three weeks this summer.
One project will be to not only clean up the graveyard,but to play special
attention to graves the city is threatening to dig up and transfer because
of past neglect.
We always do Limmud with our projects. What are some sources on the mitzvah
of looking after graves? or any related questions, helping another Jewish
community etc.
We are willing to follow up if you could help us with some initial sources.
A dank faroys,
Martin Horwitz, Director
Jewish Community Development Fund in Russia and Ukraine 212-273-1642
Martin Horwitz, New York, USA
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The Kollel replies:
Martin,
The Navi considers it a great disgrace to have one's bones removed from
their resting places (and mutilated), see Yirmeyahu 8:1, and Melachim II
23:16, and Rashi Shmuel II 21:10, for example. Conversely, granting a
proper burial to the dead is considered an act of ultimate kindness, see
Rashis to Bereishis 47:29, to Shemos 15:12, to Shmuel II 8:13 and to
Melachim I 11:15, for example.
These themes are discussed in the Talmud as well. For example, Berachos 8a
discusses the ultimate kindness of attaining proper burial, while Yevamos
63b discusses the disgrace of having one's body de-earthed (and the causes
thereof).
Another common theme in Chazal is the benefit of praying at the gravesites
of the expired Tzadikim, see for example Sotah 34a. The following link will
lead you to the lengthy and beautiful discussion of the subject by Yosef
Da'as on our site: http://www.dafyomi.co.il/sotah/yosefdas/Sota32-49a.pdf
(leaf forward to page #133 of the Sefer, if the page numbers appear on bottom).
Below please find some material that we sent out in the past regarding the
designation of Jewish graveyards. Please let me know if that is not enough.
Mordecai Kornfeld
Dafyomi Advancement Forum
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Rosh Kollel: Rabbi Mordecai Kornfeld
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Jewish Burial
Sharron Moskowitz <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> asked:
I am trying to help a friend establish a Jewish section in his local
cemetery so that Jewish people can be buried in that town. He asked me to
try to find reliable sources and quotes that would help him explain and
document why Jews require separate burial ground and convince his local
Cemetery Commission of the importance of this need. Any help would be very
much appreciated.
Sharron Moskowitz, Vermont, USA
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The Kollel replies:
It is quite clear from time immemorial that the Jewish people have always
tried to keep their families buried together. This can be seen with great
clarity in the Talmud, as described in Bava Basra 100b and as codified in
the Shulchan Aruch (Code of Jewish Law), section Yoreh De'ah (dealing with
ethical law), ch. 366, law 1, where the law is that if one sells a family
burial site, the members of the family can annul the sale. This is
reiterated in section Choshen Mishpat (dealing with monetary law), ch. 217,
law 7. The fact that it is repeated in both places shows that it is a valid
principle both from religious and commercial perspectives.
The importance of being buried with family is expressed in the Torah (the
Bible) itself. See Genesis, chapter 23, 25:9, 47:30, and 49:29, et seq.,
regarding the burial of the Patriarchs and Matriarchs. This concept also
appears in the books of the Prophets in numerous places. See also the words
of the Ramban (Nachmonides) to Genesis 23:4. The Jewish community is, of
course, considered one large family, and thus it has always been the
practice for Jews to be buried together, apart from other peoples.
Moreover, in Jewish law separate burial grounds were designated for serious
transgressors of the law, so that the wicked should not be buried next to
the righteous, as the Talmud teaches in Sanhedrin 46a-47a, and as
demonstrated from the Prophets (II Kings ch. 13, regarding the prophet
Elisha). See also tractate Moed Katan 17a, which describes the practice to
designate different burial caves for righteous men known as "Chasidim" and
for righteous men known as "judges." The law as recorded by the Shulchan
Aruch (Code of Jewish Law) in section Yoreh De'ah, ch. 362, law 5, is that
we do not bury a wicked person next to a righteous person, nor even a more
wicked person next to a less wicked person, nor an average, upright person
next to a person of exceptional piety.
On this basis, the premier commentator, Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki (Rashi), in
his commentary to Gitin 61a states clearly with regard to the Talmudic
teaching that enables us to treat non-Jews in the same manner as Jews in
respect to all social welfare matters (including maintenance and support,
health and medical assistance, and burial provision) that this does not
permit us to bury them in the same burial area as the Jews. Rather, it
means that we busy ourselves and deal with their death "together with" our
own, i.e. in the same manner that we deal with our own. The other great
authorities, the Rashba, Ritva, and Ran -- while differing with Rashi on
the meaning of "together with" (Rashi holds "at the same time" and they
hold it is to be done separately) -- all agree, however, that they may not
be buried in the same burial area. The Ritva makes it clear that this is
because we have a higher standard of belief than they do, and thus the
principle of burying an extraordinarily righteous person next to a person
of less religious commitment applies.
A Biblical source for this postmortem separation is to be found in the book
of Ezekiel, ch. 39, verse 11: "On that day, I will give Gog a burial site
there in Israel...," which implies that although the Jewish people will
show abundant mercy and care after the holocaust by even burying the very
evildoers who tried to annihilate them (see illuminating commentary here,
in English, to Ezekiel, published by ArtScroll Publishers), nonetheless
they will be given a separate designated site of their own and not buried
in the grounds together with the Jewish people.
There are many other sources that teach the importance of treating non-Jews
with kindness and dignity, and assisting them in all aspects of
loving-kindness. This does not mean, however, that the Jews are to sleep in
the same bed as non-Jews or adopt their culture, nor may we be buried
together with them. As Rabbi Zev Leff, a foremost rabbinical authority of
today, put it, "We are to be insulated, not isolated," from their culture.
We similarly set aside a separate area in the cemetery for Jews who
desecrated the Shabbos or who rejected the basic tenets of our faith.
Persons who committed suicide, too, are buried in a separate area, unless
it can be assumed (as is usually the case) that the act was done while the
person's balance of mind was disturbed.
Although the position is clear from the sources quoted above and from
hallowed practice over the course of literally thousands of years, there is
nothing directly stated in the Shulchan Aruch regarding the proximity of
non-Jewish graves (other than mentioned above). (Perhaps it may not have
been politic to write such a law explicitly!) The classic compendia also
have little to say on the subject, with the exception of the Kol Bo.
The Kol Bo on the laws of death and mourning, by Rabbi Y. Y. Greenwald,
states (p. 163), "Where it is possible to acquire their own land but only
in the cemetery grounds belonging to members of other religions, the Jewish
people should see to it that a fence is erected partitioning them off from
the others and even the airspace should not be intermingled (Tuv Ta'am
va'Da'as 3:250). If possible, a distance of 8 cubits (approximately 14
feet) should separate our graves from theirs (Minchas Elazar 2:41). At the
very least, a distance of 4 cubits (approx. 7 feet) is essential, not
including the width of the fence (Hadras Kodesh, p. 34). The cemetery of
the Jews should be purchased outright (i.e. a freehold and permanent
purchase without recession), so that the Jewish people can rest assured
that the peace of their departed will remain undisturbed (Ein Yitzchak,
Yoreh De'ah 34)."
(For further scholarly discussion on the matter, see Noda b'Yehudah,
Mahadura Kama YD 89. See also Alei Tomer to Yerushalmi Gitin 5:9, who
writes how much we must endeavor to assist non-Jews in all ways (a concept
which is, unfortunately, so commonly misunderstood).)
I hope that the foregoing clarifies the Jewish position regarding the place
of burial.
Rabbi Joseph Pearlman
London
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