13
The Shulchan Aruch rules (YD 373:2) that the prohibition of contracting impurity from a corpse does not apply to female descendants of Kohanim. His source is the Mishna in Kiddushin 1:7 which lists 3 biblical prohibitions which do not apply to females: this one, destroying the 5 corners of one's beard, and rounding off the corners of one's hair ("peyos").
11
Anything which can contract impurity cannot block impurity from passing through it (Megillah 26b, Shulchan Aruch YD 371:1). A vessel can only contract impurity if it is made from cloth, sackcloth, leather, bone, wood, metal, or earthenware (Rambam Keilim 1:1, see Leviticus 11:32-33 and Numbers 31:22). Plastic therefore cannot contract impurity, so it can ...
10
Chayim K'halacha question 223 - Rabbi Boruch Shlomo Blizinsky - says a Kohain may go on the paths that lead to Auschwitz however may not enter the area where the incinerators are.
10
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 buildings". To respect the halachic requirement to be buried in earth (see this other answer), these buildings are built with vertical building columns filled with ...
9
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 galus.
אמר רבי חמא בר חנינא מפני מה נסתר מקום קבורתו של משה מעיני בשר ודם, שגלוי וידוע לפני הקב׳ה שעתיד בית המקדש ליחרב וישראל יגלו מארצם, שמא יבאו לקברו של ...
8
The source of the name Maaras Hamachpeila could shed some light on this question. - According to one opinion in Eiruvin 53a, either Rav or Shmuel (the Gemara doesn't say which one said it) says the cave is named because it is "doubled with couples" i.e. there are many couples there. This would seem to imply that its main significance is who is buried there. ...
8
The majority opinion follows Rabbi Yechezkel ben Yehuda Landau (1713 – 1793) opinion at Noda B’Yehuda I, Yoreh Deah (YD) 90, who holds that the mitzvah to bury separated body parts is required only of people who are dead, because it would be a disgrace not to. Rav Moshe Feinstein (1895-1986), however, held that even the body parts of living people must be ...
8
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 about visiting them on Chol Hamoed and during the month of Nissan in general.
Rav Uziel Eliyahu says that adding a visit/prayer at Kivrei Tzadikim during a ...
7
The Chochmas Adam (Issur v'Heter, 89:7) decries the practice of going to a gravesite and unburdening oneself to the deceased by telling them about one's problems.1:
איסור דורש אל המתים זה שמרעיב עצמו ולן בבית הקברות כדי שתשרה עליו רוח הטומאה (סימן קע"ט סעיף י"ג) ואותן נשים וכן עמי הארצות שהולכין על קברי מתים וכאילו מדברים עם המתים ואומרים להם צרותיהם קרוב ...
7
Orach Chaim 224:12 Beer Haitaiv 8 says the reason that either grass or stone is placed on the grave is as a honor for the person buried there, as it shows that people came to his grave. There is no mention as to placing more than or less than one.
7
The Pischei Tshuva in Yoreh Deah siman siff 195 #19 mentions a minhag not to go to the cemetery to pray during their Nida days.
See here starting by footnote 12 for some more information. http://shulchanaruchharav.com/Home-Database/default.aspx?pageid=women31
7
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 defies decay and dissolution." by the Diarna Project offers an alternative explanation for the tradition that the tomb is in Hamadan:
Mount Alvand, which ...
7
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 be said if there are prominent non-Jewish religious symbols around the grave.
6
A calendar is important for the dead - this way the living can figure out when their Yarzheit is, and say Kaddish and learn as a Zechus for the Neshama.
6
Eduyot 5:6:
שֶׁכָּל הַמִּתְנַדֶּה וּמֵת בְּנִדּוּיוֹ סוֹקְלִין אֶת אֲרוֹנוֹ
Anyone who dies in a state of excommunication, we stone his coffin
6
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 contains statues of idols (such as Christian crosses, etc.) then you should not enter such a cemetery let alone pray or learn there.
M”B 579:14; Kaf Hachaim ...
5
Before Rosh Hashanah, and especially on the day before the holiday
begins, it is a long-standing custom to visit gravesites and to exhort
the tzadikim there to intercede for us on the day of judgement.
However, we do not direct our prayers toward the dead who rest there;
rather, we implore G-d to have mercy on us for their sake. (Kitzur
Shulchan ...
5
The Chevra Kadisha in Yerushalayim strictly does not allow a person's children or grandchildren to be present at his burial. This is based on non-halachic, Kabbalistic considerations. This is not because of anything the son may have done, but because the person who passed away may be guilty of certain sins. In any case, I have never heard of this minhag ...
5
At Westpark Jewish Cemetery in Johannesburg there is a section at the back for Jews who married non-Jews, separated from the adjacent graves by a chain-link fence.
5
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 women in separate sections. Neither custom is obligatory. One should make inquiry regarding this procedure before one joins the society, in order to avoid problems ...
5
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 "taken to her eternal home on Friday". This obviously needs more date information.
5
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 המכפלה וקבר רשב"י
וכדו' מברך ברכת הקברות, דאולי אין זה נחשב כרואה קברי ישראל, כיון דאין
רואה את מקום המת עצמו, אלא רק ציון לפתח המערה שבו נטמן, וצ"ע.
תשובה: ...
5
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 beit din would have to be asked but the "burden of proof" appears much higher than a delayed burial.
Several exceptions to the prohibition are mentioned by the ...
4
Practices vary.
Suicide is a very complex subject; traditionally we'd apply every benefit of the doubt ("we assume he fell, not jumped"), and today when we add in mental-health issues it's even more complicated. On this one all I can say is consult a rabbi on a case-by-case basis, and we pray not to have such cases.
My impression is that most synagogues ...
4
I heard this morning from Rabbi Shmuel Tendler Shlita - Rabbi of Sons of Israel in Lakewood, that the word Even is an acronym for Av, Ben, Neked or alternatively Eim, Bas, Nekda. That is why we place a stone as we are saying we are a continuation of you. (This only explains why one would place on the grave of a parent or grandparent)
4
There are a number of issues:
A flying object/tent is not considered a tent to separate.
Something that is Mekabel Tum'ah cannot separate.
A Kohen may not put himself in a circumstance of Tum'ah upon which a Nazir would have to shave and start over Nezirus.
The fact that the airplane MAY fly over Jewish Graves would probably be because it's like flying ...
4
In order to prevent Tuma from rising, you need a Tefach space covered by a roof.
To achieve this for a bridge, you use the כיפין על גבי כיפין concept, as described by the Para Aduma ceremony, where they had a bridge from the Temple Mount to Har Hazeitim:
מסכת פרה - פרק ג - משנה ו
וְכֶבֶשׁ הָיוּ עוֹשִׂים מֵהַר הַבַּיִת לְהַר הַמִּשְׁחָה, כִּפִּין עַל ...
4
A Geonic responsum (T'shuvos HaGeonim Shaarei Tzedek chelek 3 shaar 4 siman 20) cited by the Ritz Geius (Hil. Avel), the Ramban (Toras Haadam: Shaar Haavel; inyan hahaschala), the Ran (chiddushim to Moed Katan; dinei kvurah: aveilus uminhagim), and the Tur (YD 376) mentions a custom of washing ones hand after returning from a cemetery before entering ones ...
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