Laws and Customs of a Funeral

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The Mitzvah of Burial

  1. There is a mitzvah to bury a dead body the day of the death.[1] There is also a prohibition to leave a corpse unburied.[2]
  2. Even if a person requests not to spend his money on his burial we bury him from his assets and if he has none we still bury him.[3]

Where to Do the Burial

  1. Generally it is forbidden to bury someone in another cemetery if there is a closer one in town. Exceptions to this rule include burying the corpse in Israel, burying them in a family plot, or if the deceased left an explicit directive to bury him in a certain location. [4]

Cremation

  1. It is a very serious prohibition to cremate a Jewish body. It is an active commission of the mitzvah of burial and is a great spiritual curse for the deceased.[5]
  2. If a Jew requested to be cremated we can not listen to his listen and rather perform the mitzvah of a proper honorable burial.[6]
  3. If a Jew was cremated the rabbis on his own request the ashes may not be buried in a Jewish cemetery since the person who made such a request lost his kedusha and there is no further disgrace to the family by leaving the ashes not buried. The ashes remain forbidden to be used but there is no obligation to have them buried.[7]

When to do the Burial

  1. Regarding burials on the second day of Yom Tov see Second_Day_of_Yom_Tov#Burials_on_Yom_Tov_Sheni.

Sources

  1. ↑ Rambam (Sefer Hamitzvot Aseh no. 231)
  2. ↑ Sanhedrin 46b, Shulchan Aruch YD 362:1
  3. ↑ Shulchan Aruch YD 348:2 and 3
  4. ↑ Shulchan Aruch and Rama YD 363:2
  5. ↑ Gesher Hachaim 1:16:9:1
  6. ↑ Gesher Hachaim 1:16:9:2
  7. ↑ Gesher Hachaim 1:16:9:2
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