All Questions
Tagged with buried or cemetery-grave
127 questions
4
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3
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Why the wait to buy Marath HaMachpelah area
Why did Avraham Avinu wait till Sarah Immeinu's death to buy the area of Marath HaMachpelah?
It was known to be a special place to him, so it would make sense that he would have tried to acquire it ...
- 1,201
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vote
0
answers
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Is it permitted to visit Palermo catacombs in Sicily?
Is a Jew halachically permitted to visit the catacombs in Palermo Sicily?
Are these catacombs beneath the church?
- 11
0
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1
answer
204
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Was a "rebellious son" ever executed?
The Torah tells us that a rebellious son (בֵּ֚ן סוֹרֵ֣ר וּמוֹרֶ֔ה) must be put to death. [Deuteronomy 21:18-21]
The Talmud [Sanhedrin 71a] says: "This never happened and never will." But ...
- 23.6k
2
votes
1
answer
200
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Positioning of gravestone
Why are the gravestones in Israel positioned over the grave, as opposed to other cemeteries where the gravestone is positioned vertically ?
The comment by @Deuteronomy corroborates my observation, ...
- 2,328
2
votes
2
answers
238
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Known tombs/graves of Rishonim in Europe
Are there any graves of Rishonim that are known in Europe (not a whole cemetery like in Worms but the actual tomb)?
I know about the Maharal and Rema as well as the oldest known from a rabbi (that of ...
- 21
3
votes
1
answer
228
views
Can one enter a church to pray at the kever of Elisha Hanovi
To get to the tziyun of Elisha ben Shefot in Haifa, one has to enter a church.
Is one allowed to do so or does one have to pray outside the walls of the church?
According to most of the opinions ...
- 1,466
0
votes
1
answer
233
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Visiting a cemetery in Nissan
I heard that there is a prohibition on visiting a cemetery in Nissan, especially in Chol HaMoed. Is this right?
- 495
3
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0
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57
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Burying in the same grave space
What halachic rules (or minhagim) apply to burying more than one person in a single grave space, in other words one coffin on top of another? Is it permissible for husband and wife, or father/son or ...
3
votes
3
answers
153
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Where is Iyov buried?
I was researching where the tomb of the prophets were. I saw that the tomb of Iyov is claimed to be in Oman. Do we know if he was buried there?
- 1,466
1
vote
1
answer
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Why do Chazal refer to the emergence of a baby from the womb as pesichas hakever
A term throughout Chazal is פתיחת הקבר, pesichas hakever, translated literally as the opening of the grave. For example, Niddah 21a. This term refers to the emergence of a fetus or baby from the womb (...
- 20.2k
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How Does Garlic Ward Away Negative Spirits?
The Taamei Haminhagim (659) quotes the Shaar Hamelech who says:
טעם שבט״ב מטילין שום על בית הקברות, לפי ששום מבריח החיצונים, ובכל ימות
השנה,יכולין לינצל ע״י תורה ותפלה ואין לחם אחיזה - The reason why ...
- 14.8k
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0
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186
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How does tucking in one's Tzitzis help in a cemetery?
Based on Not allowing one's tzitzis to show in a cemetary according to the Rambam and Are all mitzvos forbidden near a grave? If not, why not? If yes, why not say so?, we find that wearing Tzitzis ...
- 3,917
2
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0
answers
283
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Torah verse on headstone?
Is there any prohibition or reason not to include a Torah verse on a headstone in a Jewish cemetery. I was told its better not to include the whole psuk but just part of it but even that person that ...
- 1,533
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1
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Why do we not say משיב הרוח ומוריד הגשם after אַתָּה גִבּוֹר לְעוֹלָם אֲדֹנָי מְחַיֵּה מֵתִים אַתָּה רַב לְהוֹשִׁיעַ recited in the cemetery?
I asked the question When visiting the cemetery do we say משיב הרוח ומוריד הגשם in the blessing of אֲשֶׁר יָצַר אֶתְכֶם בַּדִּין?
and later answered it:
we do not say משיב הרוח ומוריד הגשם after ...
- 48.7k
3
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2
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When visiting the cemetery do we say משיב הרוח ומוריד הגשם in the blessing of אֲשֶׁר יָצַר אֶתְכֶם בַּדִּין?
When visiting the cemetery after a break of 30 days, it is customary to say Nusach Ashkenaz
בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ אֱלֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם, אֲשֶׁר יָצַר אֶתְכֶם
בַּדִּין וְזָן וְכִלְכֵּל אֶתְכֶם ...
- 48.7k
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129
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Do we know where Yirmiyahu HaNavi is buried?
When researching for another answer, I stumbled across an interesting source.
The Midrash Aggada in Bamidbar 30:15 writes:
והקב"ה הוכיחם על ידי ירמיה ע"ה אשר רגמו אותו בני ישראל במצרים ...
- 34.5k
2
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1
answer
208
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What's the point of visiting one's parents gravesite
I am looking for Torah sources on the benefits of visiting parents' gravesite for the deceased or for the visitors.
user14046
4
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1
answer
173
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Were there rabbinic objections when grave digging went from manually-powered to machine?
There are lots of responsa when matza-baking machines were introduced instead of everyone doing it by hand. When power machinery came up to make grave-digging faster/easier, did any rabbis object that ...
- 136k
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0
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79
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Re-using non-Jewish tombstones
Previously I had a question about desecrating Jewish gravestones, but now I would have one in the opposite direction. In Christian cemeteries it's fairly common to dismantle graves after a few decades ...
- 8,117
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0
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114
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Why do sefardim have the minchag of using the mothers name on the tombstone and when praying for the deceased?
I was told that the sefardi custom, based on the Chida, is to use the mother's name of the deceased when praying for the deceased and on the tombstone.
For example: Moshe was born to Sarah and Yaakov; ...
- 13.3k
3
votes
2
answers
263
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Why didn't Avraham buy his burial plot earlier?
Rabbi Aron Moss quotes the Midrash Vayikra Rabbah (5:5) suggesting that one should buy a burial plot when still alive. If that is the case, why didn't Avraham buy the cave from Ephron for Sarah (and ...
- 14.8k
3
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1
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Learning Torah while sitting Shmirah for a Met
I am part of the Chevra Kadisha in a town with a small Jewish community and so the Metim don’t always have people to sit Shmirah the whole time until the funeral so I try to spend as much time as ...
- 53
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389
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Eggplants at a Jewish Cemetery?
This was taken outside the gates of the Mikveh Israel Cemetery. There are bunch of Eggplants tied tighter with red yarn . A bevy of American coins were under each one.
Typically eggplants at a ...
- 159
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112
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Benefitting from desecrated tombstones
We learn in Sanhedrin 48a:
ת"ש נפש שבנאו לשם חי מותר בהנאה הוסיף בו דימוס אחד לשם מת אסור בהנאה הכא במאי עסקינן דרמא ביה מת
Come and hear! A tomb built for a man still alive, may be used. If, ...
- 8,117
2
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0
answers
279
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How do you halachically preserve a body if the ground is frozen?
Typically, traditional Jewish burial law calls for a speedy burial in the ground, with no embalming or other unnatural preservation of the body. But what about if the ground is too frozen? Nowadays, ...
- 21
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2
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141
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Sources for individual's "four cubits in the Land of Israel"
I know of one teshuva (Maharam of Rothenburg, Prague Edition, 4:536), that deals with the practical implications of one's halakhically guaranteed four cubits in the Land of Israel.
Does anyone know of ...
- 152
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2
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212
views
Can I have flowers planted on my grave?
The MY question Why don't Jewish people put flowers on graves?
asks about a visitor leaving flowers on a grave.
The reason we don’t is that it’s “chukas hagoyim”
Does the same logic apply for a ...
- 1,760
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1
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115
views
can a sibling go to a burial in a non jewish cemetery
A Jewish man married to a non-Jewish woman dies. He is buried in either a non-Jewish cemetery or in a section designated for Jews. Can siblings go to the cemetery for the burial or a visit?
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0
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Asking forgiveness from a deceased person who has no gravesite
The Rambam in Hilchos Teshuvah 2:9 writes:
הַחוֹטֵא לַחֲבֵרוֹ וּמֵת חֲבֵרוֹ קֹדֶם שֶׁיְּבַקֵּשׁ מְחִילָה מֵבִיא עֲשָׂרָה בְּנֵי אָדָם וּמַעֲמִידָן עַל קִבְרוֹ וְיֹאמַר בִּפְנֵיהֶם חָטָאתִי לַה' ...
- 12.2k
3
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1
answer
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Can you pray or study torah in a non-Jewish cemetery?
There is a large non-Jewish cemetery near where I live. It has beautiful grounds and is open to the public for visiting. Is it OK to pray or study Torah there?
- 2,413
3
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1
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If a condition to bury someone's body wasn't upheld, is one allowed to exhume the body?
A follow up to this recent question "(Why) May a Beit Din refuse to bury a body in order to coerce a man into giving a divorce?" where a Jewish burial society was instructed to not bury the body of a ...
- 12.2k
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2
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608
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Are there any Rishonim buried in England and France
Do we know of any of the burial places of Rishonim around France and England? I know Rabbi Yisrael Meir Gabbai has found some but are there any tools to source ancient Jewish cemeteries e.g. a map?
- 1,466
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1
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Source for stoning a grave
Although there are sources (Be'er Heitev OC 224:8) which discuss placing stones on a grave, that seems to be more of an honor for the deceased. Apparently Rebbi Akiva Eiger asked his family to stone ...
- 14.8k
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261
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What names or family relations can or should be inscribed on a grave?
I am looking for sources that address the wording for a tombstone. I recognise that this is probably dealing with local minhag as set by the chevrei kadisha.
1) order to which relationships should be ...
- 205
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Are all mitzvos forbidden near a grave? If not, why not? If yes, why not say so?
The Talmud (Bavli, B'rachos 18 amud 1) mentions a prohibition on wearing tzitzis or t'filin, or reading from a Torah scroll, in a cemetery, based on "one who taunts the pauper, that makes him a ...
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Should you avoid cemeteries the week before Yom Tov?
מִבְּשָׂרָם֙ לֹ֣א תֹאכֵ֔לוּ וּבְנִבְלָתָ֖ם לֹ֣א תִגָּ֑עוּ טְמֵאִ֥ים הֵ֖ם לָכֶֽם׃
Don't eat their [non-kosher animals'] meat and don't touch their corpses; they are impure for you
ובנבלתם לא תגעו. יכול ...
- 9,421
3
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1
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Gravesite Kaddish
I have noticed at funerals that some people face the grave while saying Kaddish and at others face a different direction.
Is there a reason for it for both ways?
- 1,981
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1
answer
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A pregnant woman of a boy kohen baby going into cemetery
The gemara in chullin 71 writes that a tahor baluah cannot become tamei. Meaning something inside someone cannot become tamei from the outside. So it seems from this gemara that a woman who married a ...
- 42.7k
6
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1
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How long must a grave remain a grave?
I was recently reading an article which suggested planting trees over graves which made me think of this question...
How long does Jewish law require a grave to remain as a grave for the original ...
- 4,685
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203
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Source for the Arizal identifying many unmarked graves of legendary Jewish figures?
I remember learning that many of the famous gravesites in Israel- the Rambam, Dan of the 12 tribes, Rav Shimon Bar Yochai, Ruth from Megillas Ruth (not necessarily these exact ones, just giving ...
- 12.2k
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0
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91
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How can a cemetery be Tahor?
In the Kitzur Shulchan Aruch in 128:13 he states, regarding going to a cemetery on Erev Rosh Hashana:
וְגַם מֵחֲמַת שֶׁהוּא מְקוֹם קְבוּרַת הַצַּדִּיקִים, הַמָּקוֹם הוּא קָדוֹשׁ וְטָהוֹר, ...
- 44.7k
4
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1
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Preparing a grave before death
Is it against Halacha to prepare a grave before someone who passed away i.e. that the doctors and family know that the person is going to pass away but don’t know when so they make preparations.
...
- 1,981
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Davening near a cemetery
As suggested by DoubleAA on this similar but more unusual question.
If you go to a cemetery and haven't been to one recently, you say a bracha:
ברוך אתה ה' אלקינו מלך העולם אשר יצר אתכם בדין וזן ...
- 9,421
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What is the source of the custom to pray on graves of Tzadikim?
The Galilee has several such locations where people visit and pray asking for what their heart desires.
What is the source of this custom?
How does it align with graves being in general a source of ...
- 243
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1
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767
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What's the rule on walking on Jewish graves? [duplicate]
Please provide reference to scriptures (Exact book, Chapter and page number), a synagogue has confirmed walking on graves is not allowed but couldn't provide any reference.
4
votes
1
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Can a pregnant woman enter a cemetery?
I heard that a pregnant woman should not enter a cemetery. I understand this is a minhag and not halacha but would be interested to understand more about this topic.
What is the source of that minhag?...
- 54k
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"Maaneh Loshn" - מענה לשון
Maaneh Loshn is a profoundly beautiful tefila once said by many people, now mostly said by Lubavitcher Chasidim at their Ohel.
1) Does anyone else say Maaneh Loshn today besides Chabad?
2) The ...
- 20.2k
6
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262
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Is it appropriate for a Jew to visit a grave of a non-Jewish friend who passed away?
I learned that an old friend who I have been out of touch with for 15 years passed away a couple years ago, at a very young age. They were not Jewish. I am wondering if it is appropriate to visit ...
- 2,191
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1
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105
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Why is it customary not to say the Bracha for seeing "Kivrei Yisrael" (Jewish Graves) when visiting the Me'aras Hamachpela?
Why is it customary not to say the Bracha for seeing "Kivrei Yisrael" (Jewish Graves) when visiting the Me'aras Hamachpela? (Graves of the Patriarchs and Matriarchs in Hebron).
The same seems too be ...
- 7,092
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2
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2k
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Can a Jew be buried in a non-jewish cemetery
If a Jew, living in a small village, dies, is it allowed from religious point of view that he be buried in the local non-Jewish cemetery?
