12/18/2024
Today - a discussion on the topic of cremation and Judaism.
A number of Rabbis were recently asked their thoughts on the topic of whether cremation is forbidden or allowed under Jewish law. Predictably, there is a wide range of opinion.
We as funeral directors are not theologians, we can only share observations based upon our experience, so we share the thoughts of a number of Rabbis (Of different branches of Judaism) to help address this question.
INDEPENDENT
All of the sources generally cited as making cremation off limits (Shulchan Aruch, Yorah De’ah 348:3 and 362:1) assume burial in the earth. Our bodies are ours to take care of, the Torah tells us, and not ours to in any way defile (Leviticus 19:28 and Deuteronomy 14:1). This is why we have for thousands of years honored the body with burial in the earth, to accommodate its return to the elements at the most organic and natural pace possible. So yes, burial—along with all of its accompanying rituals of honoring the dead—is preferable.
But is cremation actually forbidden? A major argument against cremating bodies is that it would prevent their resurrection in the Messianic Era. But it’s sacrilegious to imply resurrection is impossible for God to perform without a pile of decomposed bones. And cremation was never totally alien to our people. It was an option in times of disease (Amos 6:10) and following ex*****on for certain capital offenses (Leviticus 20:14, Joshua 7:25 and Talmud Bav’li, Sanhedrin 75a-b). And some of our early figures described themselves not as of earth alone, but also of ash (Genesis 18:27 and Job 42:6). The Talmud alludes to the custom of placing ashes of human bones on the forehead and elsewhere during ritual fasts that accompanied prayers for rain in times of drought (Talmud Bav’li, Ta’anit 15b).
Jews often recoil from cremation because of its association with the murder and cremation of our millions of martyrs—by the N***s, by Christian and Muslim persecutors over the centuries and as recently as October 2023. And yet, one could render cremation a respectable ritual option after death in their honor and their memory. It could be considered “a sacred fire unto God” (Exodus 29:25), especially when it is a person’s dying wish.
Rabbi Gershon Winkler
Walking Stick Foundation
Golden, CO
HUMANIST
If we go by the growing number of Jews choosing cremation, it’s clear that cremation is definitely not off limits for those who want it. Although fewer Jews opt for it compared to nearly 60 percent of all Americans, the number is growing, with reports that up to 20 percent of Jewish families are choosing cremation. With Jewish cemeteries offering mausoleums and even designated burial grounds for cremains, it appears this trend will grow.
Humanistic Judaism has always accepted cremation. Our founder was cremated. Most of my congregants now choose it too. There are many reasons: It’s simpler, provides more flexibility, it’s more affordable, and rabbinic opposition has softened. (Some also see it as greener, though cremation uses significant energy, and “nature forest preserve” areas are also emerging in traditional cemeteries.)
Another reason for this growing acceptance is that graves no longer serve as the central place of memory in our mobile society. My mother lived far from me, and when she died her ashes were scattered in places she loved. We did engrave her name on a wall in my congregation’s Memorial Garden, but that was mainly for me, for now. Someday, I will leave here to be closer to my children, and I will carry her memory in my heart.
Rabbi Jeffrey Falick
Congregation for Humanistic Judaism of Metro Detroit
Farmington Hills, MI
RENEWAL
I would hope so, but, as with the general population, it does seem as though cremation is an option Jews increasingly choose. Many folks think that cremation is environmentally preferable to burial in a cemetery. That’s not the case, especially if burial is done in a plain wood casket. Cremation releases volatilized mercury into the air as well as greenhouse emissions. Cemeteries, on the other hand, preserve large green spaces in our suburban and exurban areas. I so wish that Jews would educate themselves—and their beloved elders—about the environmental impacts of cremation and decisions made long ago. Even for Jews who bury the ashes of a cremated loved one in a cemetery, cremation usually disrupts the Jewish time frame of mourning. The wait for cremation can be lengthy but also hard to predict, leaving families in limbo. Without the body or the ashes present, the funeral becomes a “memorial service” that can take place at any time.
And when does shiva occur? During the week following the death when the family needs it the most, or not until after the memorial service? Or, all too often, not at all? Not only the immediate tasks of burial but the physicality of the funeral and shiva are dissipated with cremation. And so too with the honor that our tradition demands be shown to the body of the dead as the soul transitions to the world beyond.
Rabbi Gilah Langner
Congregation Kol Ami
Arlington, VA
RECONSTRUCTIONIST
No, cremation is not off limits for Jews, because Jews are in fact making the choice to be cremated. As a rabbi, I want to be a caring and comforting presence in the grieving process, whether a person chooses traditional burial or cremation, and I seek to do so without judgment. The most important thing at the time of a person’s death is for family members to respect their loved one’s wishes and seek peace for them and for themselves through their love, memories and mourning.
At the same time, when those who are exploring burial options come to me for guidance, I try to convey the beauty and profundity of traditional Jewish burial and encourage it. Jewish rituals around burial and mourning work together as a sensitive system that provides enormous comfort and wisdom. The emphasis on natural burial has much in common with green burial. And there is a lot to be said for passing on a cultural tradition as a whole in which loved ones know what to expect, potentially reducing friction at the most sensitive of times. Nevertheless, I always trust individuals to make the right choice for themselves in this most personal of decisions.
Rabbi Caryn Broitman
Martha’s Vineyard Hebrew Congregation
Vineyard Haven, MA
REFORM
Yes, cremation is still considered an objectionable practice for many Jews, and we do it all the time.
While there are no specific biblical, Talmudic or halachic prohibitions against cremation, for several reasons Jews have developed a powerful cultural distaste for it. First, it is a mitzvah to bury the dead, specifically the deceased body. Cremation prevents one from fulfilling that commandment. Second, we are commanded to treat the deceased with respect and dignity. Tradition asserts that cremation does not meet that standard. The horrific treatment of Jews in N**i death camps, who were subjected to multiple forms of degradation, reinforces Jewish aversion to cremation.
On the other hand, there are those who maintain that cremation is the more environmentally friendly option. Yet the amount of energy required to run crematoria, as well as the emissions that result from the process, have been shown to impact the environment. Also, many choose cremation because it is simply more affordable.
Despite the long-standing objections to cremation, most Reform clergy support folks who choose this option for themselves or their loved ones. We remain by their sides, educating and counseling them as they make their end-of-life choices, ultimately honoring the deceased and comforting the mourners.
Rabbi Dr. Laura Novak Winer
Hebrew Union College–Jewish Institute of Religion
Fresno, CA
CONSERVATIVE
Yes! According to Jewish law, when a person dies their body should be buried. In Genesis 3:19 we read, “For dust you are, and to dust you shall return.” The requirement of burying the dead is explicitly codified in the Talmud (Sanhedrin 46b), later in Maimonides’ Sefer Hamitzvot and finally in the Shulchan Aruch. The sources are clear: Cremation is forbidden. In modernity, the N**i crematoria have reinforced the taboo.
Nonetheless, individual Jews make individual choices for a variety of reasons: financial, lack of connection to a geographic location, changing societal norms. According to the National Funeral Directors Association, in the past 25 years, the number of families choosing cremation has nearly doubled.
Thirty years ago, as a young rabbi, I would not officiate at a funeral or memorial service if the deceased was cremated. But I now believe that was a mistake. Now I use this profound life-cycle event as an opportunity to introduce mourners to other rituals associated with death and dying that are of great importance for the Jewish mourner.
In his essay A Choosing People, Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove describes Conservative Jews as living non-halachic lives but nevertheless aspiring to halachic moments. I agree, and I believe that if a Jew chooses cremation, though this is a non-halachic choice, the mourners have many other choices that can be strongly rooted in Jewish tradition, halacha and communal connection.
Rabbi Amy S. Wallk
Temple Beth El
Springfield, MA
MODERN ORTHODOX
Jewish burial procedures are extensions of the tradition’s commitments to the dignity of all life and the special sanctity of human beings. They are each of infinite value, unique and equal to one another (Sanhedrin 37a). A person who dies loses all the characteristics of life that evoke this respect and dignity. But in memory of life’s supreme value, and in honor of the sanctity of the living, the co**se should be treated with utmost respect. The tradition settled on burial as the way to continue this respect until the last moment of contact with the deceased. The body is gently cleansed and purified, lovingly dressed in a simple white shroud by a chevra kadisha (holy group) of volunteers. Ideally, the work is not a commercial transaction. The funeral honors the individual; the final act of respect is to inter the body in the ground, with a marker, so that the family and others will have a place to honor the person’s memory. The body will decompose and be absorbed into nature, the cycle of physical existence completed with a spirit of love and dignity.
The tradition objected to cremation because it implied that the body was no longer connected to the living family and community. Cremation was a commercial enterprise, and keeping the ashes on display, as some do, risked undercutting the unfailing dignity owed to every human being. Until this judgment changes, cremation will remain outside the bounds of Jewish tradition.
During the Holocaust, the N***s expressed their ultimate hatred of Jews by denying those they killed any marker of having existed. Auschwitz and other killing camps cremated the bodies and dumped them into rivers or pits. In some cases, as a final degradation, the ashes were used for fertilizer or to provide traction on winter roads. Thus the Jews were converted into “stuff,” usable materials with a monetary value, rather than living images of God. That ultimate statement of contempt for Jews should move us to be suspicious of and resistant to cremation as the final treatment of any living person.
Rabbi Yitz Greenberg
J.J. Greenberg Institute for the Advancement of Jewish Life/Hadar
Riverdale, NY
ORTHODOX
If there ever was a time that cremation should be off limits, or that we should understand why it’s off limits, it’s today. Traditionally, Jews saw cremation as an act of dramatic representation that death is final, whereas burial was a way of connecting the passing of a person to the biblical narrative of where man comes from and where he is intended to go. The earth from which he is created in Genesis is adamah, but the letters also spell out adameh, “I will become like [Him].” A person can choose to be simply part of adamah, the material substrate from which everything else is formed, or he can be adameh and strive to imitate his creator.
The idea that people should own up to the finality of death is one that rejects the eternity of the soul. The implied statement of burning the body is that there’s no further attachment to it, whereas burial links back to Adam and to the idea that the body, having been a tool in carrying out G-d’s mission, is to be treated with honor and dignity.
In this past year, we have seen a sharp division of the world between those who cannot believe there is such a thing as absolute, be***al evil that must be resisted and those who insist that, yes, there are absolutes of right and wrong. The latter view, with its emphasis on man as a being with a moral mission, owes itself to the Jewish Bible, with its emphasis on man as a being with a moral mission. Spurning cremation connects to that biblical tradition, whose persistence is the world’s best hedge against its pervasive moral confusion. It is more needed today than at any point in my lifetime.
Rabbi Yitzchok Adlerstein
Cross-Currents
Los Angeles, CA /Jerusalem
SEPHARDIC
Cremation is a taboo in traditional Judaism. The Talmud considers it a grave sin and a punishment reserved for the wicked in the afterlife; in modern times, there is an added element of rejection because of the Holocaust connotation. In the Bible, however, there might be a reference to cremation for royalty (I Samuel 31:12; II Chronicles 16:14 and 21:19). There is room to argue that, if cremation shows more respect to the deceased than other methods, it should be allowed. Recently I was told of a Holocaust survivor who passed away in Brazil and insisted on cremation. She said that when she was brought to the camp as a little girl, a N**i soldier pointed at the smoke coming out of the crematoria and said to her that these were her relatives. She swore that she would join them in the same manner after death. Other than such emotionally loaded cases, the benefits of cremation are questionable, especially from an ecological perspective. I feel it is the duty of community leaders to find creative solutions and provide affordable burial for all, to eliminate at least the financial aspect as a factor in choosing cremation.
Rabbi Haim Ovadia
Torah VeAhava
Potomac, MD
