12
votes
What's the reason for the gravesite of Moshe Rabbeinu not being Known?
Deuteronomy 34 6:
ולא ידע איש את קברתו עד היום הזה.
In סוטה י׳ד ע׳א we find רבי חמא בר חנינא giving the reason it was hidden so that the Jews would not be able to go pray at his grave when going into ...
- 33.4k
10
votes
Above ground burial
Yes above-ground burial is halachically acceptable if done properly.
For instance Israel suffers a lack of enough burial space and has developed a number of high-capacity above-ground "burial ...
- 48.1k
8
votes
Accepted
Visiting the graves of Tzadikim on chol hamoed
There are a whole bunch of Poskim that answer this question online.
Rav Eliezer Altshuler says that people go to Kivrei Tzadikim to pray, which is always allowed, and that there are different customs ...
- 20.9k
7
votes
Why are Mordechai and Esther buried in Hamedan, considering it is distant from Shushan?
Encyclopedia Judaica's entry for "Hamadan, Iran" says:
The Persian Jews identify Hamadan with "Shushan ha-Bira," which obviously is a mistake.
An essay entitled "Esther’s Tomb Iran's Jewish queen ...
- 47.8k
7
votes
Burial sites of the Shevatim
The Sefer Hayashar (anonymous) on Sefer Yehoshua brings down where the Shevatim were buried:
שנים עשר בני יעקב אשר העלו בני ישראל ממצרים : ויקברו את ראובן ואת גד בעבר הירדן ברומיא אשר נתן להם משה ...
- 41.1k
7
votes
can a sibling go to a burial in a non jewish cemetery
There is no problem to go to non-Jewish cemeteries, and it is even encouraged on fast days (as a reminder of our mortality) if there is no nearby Jewish cemetery.
Per this answer, prayers should not ...
- 1,827
6
votes
Accepted
Source for stoning a grave
Eduyot 5:6:
שֶׁכָּל הַמִּתְנַדֶּה וּמֵת בְּנִדּוּיוֹ סוֹקְלִין אֶת אֲרוֹנוֹ
Anyone who dies in a state of excommunication, we stone his coffin
- 41.8k
6
votes
Accepted
Can you pray or study torah in a non-Jewish cemetery?
It has been said that a Jew may visit the graves of righteous gentiles to arouse one to do Teshuvah when the graves of Jews are not available in one’s vicinity, but if the cemetery you wish to enter ...
- 1,335
6
votes
Can one enter a church to pray at the kever of Elisha Hanovi
This answer is within the framework of those that generally permit praying near graves:
The specific site you are referring to is the grotto beneath the altar of the church which is part of the Stella ...
- 6,482
5
votes
What does נלבעה mean?
It means נלקחה לבית עולמה which means “taken to her eternal home”.
Most abbreviations have the quote marks before the last letter (e.g. שליט"א ביהמ"ק) so נלבע"ה seems better.
נלבע"ה ביום שישי means ...
- 47.2k
5
votes
Is there a minhag or halacha that states that men and women should be buried in separate cemetery plot areas?
From Chabad.org
The basic grave formation in most cemeteries is arranged according to families. There has been a custom in later centuries, observed by many memorial societies, of burying men and ...
- 24.7k
5
votes
Accepted
Why is it customary not to say the Bracha for seeing "Kivrei Yisrael" (Jewish Graves) when visiting the Me'aras Hamachpela?
Apparently, Rav Chaim Kanievsky (Quoted in Ginei Halacha 5770 #38 page 46) is left unsure.
הרואה קברי קדמונים כמו מערת המכפלה אם נחשבים כראיית קבר
שאלה: נסתפקתי האם הרואה "קברי קדמונים" כמערת ...
- 2,086
5
votes
Accepted
If a condition to bury someone's body wasn't upheld, is one allowed to exhume the body?
The rules of disinterment are quite strict (see SA YD 363:1), dinonline has a good summary. The case you ask about is not part of the list, nor are there any cases of pressuring a family member. A ...
- 48.1k
5
votes
Were there rabbinic objections when grave digging went from manually-powered to machine?
Nitei Gavriel Aveilus1 75:6 says that the grave should be dug by a Jew. In the footnote he says that a Jew should be the one who operates the tractor that digs up the ground.
There is no mention of ...
- 139k
5
votes
What's the point of visiting one's parents gravesite
One reason is that it greatly benefits the souls of the deceased.
In the sefer Pnei Baruch, siman 37, os alef it writes:
ויש הנאה למתים שבניהם ואוהביהם ילכו על קבריהם להתפלל עליהם ולבקש טובה לנשמתם
...
- 30.3k
4
votes
Cohanim in Paris
The question is not for a problem of touching a dead but for a problem of Maahil (to be over the dead). Tum'a Bokaat Veola (uncleanness erupt upward).
In some conditions, to walk over a buried dead ...
- 22.7k
4
votes
Not allowing one's tzitzis to show in a cemetary according to the Rambam
Your suspicions are all on target. On page 114 of Studies in Maimonides and His Interpreters, Prof. Marc Shapiro notes that Rambam omits the statement in Berakhot 18a since in his view:
Dead people ...
- 35.4k
4
votes
Accepted
Can a pregnant woman enter a cemetery?
This is one of, what I'd surmise, many sources:
there is no written source in Jewish law that expressly forbids it.
This is an interesting example of a tradition that When you are
creating life,...
- 70.1k
4
votes
Are all mitzvos forbidden near a grave? If not, why not? If yes, why not say so?
Not all mitzvot fall into the category of "taunting the pauper."
The rationale presented in ברכת פרץ, within Parshat Terumah, proposes that only a mitzvah readily identifiable as such would ...
- 3,210
4
votes
Learning Torah while sitting Shmirah for a Met
Rambam Hilchot Avel 13:9
וכן אין אומרין בפני המת אלא דברים של מת אבל לעסוק בדברי תורה בפניו או בבית הקברות אסור
In the presence of the corpse, we speak only of matters related to the corpse. To be ...
- 49.1k
4
votes
When visiting the cemetery do we say משיב הרוח ומוריד הגשם in the blessing of אֲשֶׁר יָצַר אֶתְכֶם בַּדִּין?
Rabbi Yechiel Michel Tucazinsky (יחיאל מיכל טוקצינסקי) in גשר החיים part II, 27:6 (באמירת אתה גבור אחר ברכת ראיית קברים) says:
מה ששמע שיש מנהג לומר באתה גבור אחר הברכה שבבית הקברות "מוריד הטל&...
- 2,413
3
votes
Above ground burial
The Torah (Deuteronomy 21:22-23) says:
וְכִי יִהְיֶה בְאִישׁ חֵטְא מִשְׁפַּט מָוֶת וְהוּמָת וְתָלִיתָ אֹתוֹ
עַל עֵץ לֹא תָלִין נִבְלָתוֹ עַל הָעֵץ כִּי קָבוֹר תִּקְבְּרֶנּוּ
בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא ...
- 49.1k
3
votes
What's the real reason that asking departed tzadikim to pray for us is not considered "beseeching the dead"?
The most simple answer to the question as formulated here is that even praying directly to a dead person would appear to not be in violation of 'beseeching the dead' as defined by the Gemara. See ...
- 6,487
3
votes
Is a Jew allowed to visit a Christian cemetery?
yeshiva.co answers the question whether a Jew can attend a non-Jew's funeral
A Jew can enter a non Jewish cemetery and attend a non Jewish funeral.
(see Bava Metziah 114a). The only prohibition ...
- 48.1k
3
votes
How are Jewish cemeteries inaugurated?
The Melamed LeHoil 136 says that according to Rabbi Yitzhak Elchonon Spektor, the day of the first funeral in the new cemetery, all the city's dwellers fast, and add in charity and prayers, and the ...
- 40.3k
3
votes
Who owns the Cave of Machpelah today?
I'd dare to give a hint on solving this mystery: In the Halachah, we should differentiate between "ownership" and "possession". Let me elaborate, it is on the Drush side, as usual, but might shed some ...
- 25.7k
3
votes
Can a Jew be buried in a non-jewish cemetery
You should do all efforts to bury a Jew in a proper Jewish cemetery. Should a family quarrelling or similar occur, I have found a similar case of a Holocaust survivor from the Netherlands, who didn't ...
- 7,434
3
votes
Accepted
Preparing a grave before death
(I'm using masculine gender generically here; the same laws apply throughout for male or female.)
Rabbi Elchanan Zohn, who heads the Chevra Kaddisha (Jewish Burial Society) of Queens recently put out ...
- 131k
3
votes
How long must a grave remain a grave?
The Shulchan Aruch (YD 364:1) writes that a grave is forbidden for profitable use forever
A built grave is forbidden for profitable use [...] This [ruling] that
a built grave is prohibited [for ...
- 48.1k
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