Why Do We Bury the Dead?
Exploring the issues with secular burial practices, the importance of traditional burial, and the impact on the soul.
- דודו כהן
- פורסם י' חשון התשע"ד
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A visit to the cemetery always leaves us in awe. All the glory a person accumulates during their life, all the money, love, success, anguish, feelings, and thoughts - it all condenses into a cold, intimidating marble tombstone. Although, according to belief, the soul continues to other worlds, here on Earth, only a silent, burdensome reminder remains. Until a few years ago, everyone knew that in Israel, there were Jewish burial practices according to halacha. But in recent decades, a relatively limited phenomenon of secular burial, cremation, and even body donation to science has begun. How does this affect the soul of the deceased?
"According to the Gemara," says Rabbi Yitzhak Batzri, "the purpose of burial is to preserve the dignity of the deceased, so that a person is not disgraced before all. But the main reason is that once a person is buried in the ground, all their sins are atoned. In Kabbalah, it is said that when a person's body decays, the judgments are canceled. Therefore, there is an interest for the body to decay. The very fact that it was created from the earth and returns to it - constitutes the atonement."
And what happens to someone who wished to be cremated?
"According to belief, in the world of truth, they will take and burn and revive it again and again."
What about donating the body to science? At least this way, some benefit derives from the body instead of it just decaying.
"It is the disgrace of the dead. It must be understood that according to halacha, our body is not ours; it is a tool given to us by Hashem. If the body is donated to science, the soul suffers and is tormented during the various experiments. It has no rest."What happens to the fate of those whose burial place is unknown, like in the army, for example? Do they also suffer?
"If a person is not buried out of choice, it is a great sorrow for the deceased. After all, the Torah says, 'you shall not leave his corpse on the tree overnight.' However, the Gemara says that a dead person who was not buried because his body was not found or was not eulogized, or when an animal dragged him or rains fell on him - it is considered a good sign for the deceased. In other words, there is atonement in that. He enters straight into Gan Eden."
What about secular burial without purification processes, without sanctifying the cemetery area, and without reading the Kaddish?
"It is a great loss for the deceased who does not undergo purification and atonement. He misses the last opportunity to do things cleanly, so that harmful spirits do not pursue him. People choose to be buried in a non-Jewish manner because they do not know there is life after death; they do not understand that the soul needs prayers and Kaddish to be purified. The Gemara says that after Avshalom was killed, his father David prayed, and through the power of the prayers, he brought him into Gan Eden. That is, with the power of the Kaddish, the soul can be elevated to very high levels. The moment this is given up, a precious thing is lost."
Rabbi Yitzhak Gabai provides another reason for traditional burial - gratitude to the body, which over the years "served" the soul that resided within it. "The soul is part of Hashem, so it must be respected, as well as the place that housed it," explains Rabbi Gabai. "In the resurrection of the dead, it is said that the bodies will also rise, for they too had a spiritual role in the elevation of the soul. We must remember that even in the body there is an element of holiness, and it must not be disparaged. Therefore, the body needs burial."
What about those who weren't buried - for example, those who drowned at sea or were burned?
"They too will merit to rise in the resurrection of the dead. It is not necessary for all the bones to remain; the body will grow from the Luz bone even if it is already ash. There is great importance in the connection and return to the dust, as Hashem said to Adam HaRishon 'for dust you are and to dust you shall return'."
