Vertical Cemeteries: Tokyo, Oslo...Jerusalem?Parashat Vayeira 5778

R' Yisroel Meir Rosenzweig

Jewish Burial Through The AgesR' Dr. Yisrael Meir Levinger, קבורה ב'מערות קבורה' מודרנית - https://goo.gl/XXwEPE• It seems that the earliest approach was to bury wherever possible. We have examples of important figures being buried in noted

locations.• Avraham buys Me'arat HaMachpelah• Yaakov buries Rachel on journey• Nevi'im on through Tana'im

• What about the ordinary person? Two possibilities:• They were buried for a period of time to allow for decomposition. After this their bones were transferred to a familial plot,

typically in a cave.• They had family plots in caves or the like.

• The first approach brings up a number of issues that are prevalent across the Gemara.• Lost graves, later disturbed while plowing a field. See Gem. Berachot 19b [Mishnah, Ohalot 17:1] • Family plots appear normative from Mes. Semachot 12-13• Story of Aba Shaul from Gem. Niddah 24b• Grave markers • Yaakov marking Rachel's grave seems to be out of the norm.• Mishnah, Moed Katan 1:2 - marking graves on Chol HaMoed• Must have been done before Pesach to insure requisite purity for Korban Pesach.• מת מצוה - כל שהוא צווח ואין בני העיר שומעין קולו - שמחות ד:טז

• Clear that there weren't organized cemeteries until much later.The sarcophagus of Shimon bar Simiya סמיא] בר [שמעון from Tiveria [late 2nd, early 3rd century C.E.] and the Talpiot "Jonah" Tomb [1stcentury C.E.]

The Dilemma: Same Old Problem, Just More Acute. • Old Jewish Cemetery of Prague

1. R' Dr. Yisrael Meir Levinger [1933 - , Israel], קבורה ב'מערות קבורה' מודרנית - https://goo.gl/XXwEPE

oirnd,cp] c"ryz oqip,[bß209 oeilb19

aeyiia efe df aeyiia ef ,xg` ziaa efe df ziaa ef ,diig lk jyna meineid iiga

d mlerd on cxtii mc`d cg` xida mei .xg`ghyd ipt lr enewn z` xi`yie ,df

.xg` edyinl

dcy zxeaw

ly ghy qtez mc` lk ,df cvl df mc`d ipa mixawp da ,dcy zxeawa mb

o`kn .mikenqd mixawl xawd oiay geexnd ivge xawd mewn - x"n dyelyk

mewndy `ed lcadd j` ,eiiga jxv `edy mewnd lk z` jxra jxev zndy rnyn

xg`l dfd mewnd z` dptn epi` `ede ,miznd ziigz cr eyeniyl yxcp dfd

mipey zenewna !dxica enewn z` dptn `edy enk rvenna mipy dnke mipeny

zicedid dlidwl mda eaivwd okle ,zeax mipy iptl xak dirad z` epiad mlera

lynl exaw ef daiqn .sqep ghy ozpi `ly jk lr ecnr j` - dxeawl mieqn ghy

iab lr df mixhtp ly zeaky e` zenew xyrl ray oia b`xta oyid oinlrd ziaa

.df

mixaw 350 `ed dnc`d ghyl qgia mixawd xtqn ,`yicw zexagd oeayg itl

miig da ,ux`a ezeni ze`ad mipyd 120 jyna oeaygd itl .(x"n 1000) mpecl

df itl dxeawl uegpd ghyd .mc` ipa oeilin dxyrk ,micedi oeilin dyiyk meid

zivgnk e` ,cgia obÎznxe miizrab ,wxaÎipa ghyk `edy ,mpec sl` 28Îk `ed

.dira o`k yiy oian cg` lk .aia`Îlz xird ly dlceb

l`xyi mra dxeawd ziixehqid

.dixehqidd jyna milecb miiepiy dxar l`xyi mra dxeawd jxc

dpwe zg ipal dpt mdxa` .zexyt` dziidy mewn lka d`xpk exaw dligz

m` lr dxawp lgx .zedn`de zea`d exawp da ,dltknd zxrne dcyd z` mdn

.epxecl cr xeawl miaxrd ekiynd dxaw aiaqe ,mgl zia `id zxt` jxca ,jxcd

ryedi xaw enk ,zxeqn epl yi mdilry miaeyg miyp` ly zexaw mi`ven ep`

`l ik eiiga 'ci' el dpa melya`e ,dnxa l`eny xaw ,mixt` xda ezlgp leaba

miwizr zexaw eavgp xge`n xzei .rlqa mixaw cer eavgp daiaqe ,mipa el eid

,miaknd zexaw ,milyexia cec zia ikln zexawe oixcdpqd zexaw meid mipeknd

iayez exawp okid la` .ux`d iagxa mixfetn elld zexawd .cere mi`pz zexaw

?milibxd ux`d

:zeiexyt` dnk opyi

lekirl cr dpy jynl ,mixeky miyxbna e` ,mdizecya ipnf ote`a exawp md .`

.'cke dxrna dgtynd zexawl zenvrd exared f`e ,xyad

.mikeke zexrna dgtyn zexaw mdl eid .a

According to the calculations of the Chevra Kadishas, the ratio of graves to available real estate is 350 graves per 10 acres. Currently,around 6 million Jews live in Israel. So, over the next 120 years, approximately 10 million people will pass away and need a burialplot. The requisite amount of land for this number of graves amounts to 28,000 acres, roughly that of Bnei Brak, Givta'im, andRamat Gan combined or half of Tel Aviv. Everyone understands that there is problem here.

• For comparison, Calvary Cemetery in Queens, NY is 365 acres and currently has ~3 million interments (the most of any cemetery inthe US). Har HaZeitim and Har HaMenuchot each currently have ~150,000 interments.

Current Forms Of Burial In Israel • Traditional field burial - קבורת שדה• Double burial - קבורת על• Catacomb burial - קבורת סנהדרין• Vertical burial - קבורה רמה [בקומות]

The Sources 2. Devarim 21:22-23

עץ:(כב) על אתו ותלית והומת מות משפט חטא באיש יהיה כי(כג)וכי ההוא ביום תקברנו קבור כי העץ על נבלתו תלין לאקללת אלקים תלוי ולא תטמא את אדמת אשר ד' אלקי נתן ל נחלה:

22. If a man commits a sin for which he is sentenced to death, and he is put to death, you shall [then] hang him on a pole. 23. Butyou shall not leave his body on the pole overnight. Rather, you shall bury him on that [same] day, for a hanging [human corpse] is ablasphemy of G-d, and you shall not defile your land, which the Lord, your G-d, is giving you as an inheritance.

3. Gem. Sanhedrin 46b [based on Sefaria/Koren translation]מכאן - תקברנו קבור כי לומר תלמוד - תעשה בלא עליו שעובר מתו את למלין מנין יוחי: בן שמעון רבי משום יוחנן רבי אמר- מניין התורה מן לקבורה רמז יוחי: בן שמעון רבי משום יוחנן רבי אמר דאמרי, איכא תעשה. בלא שעובר מתו את למלין

תלמוד לומר כי קבור תקברנו מכאן רמז לקבורה מן התורה. אימסר יעקב: בר אחא רב אמר מידי. ולא ליה אמר ולא אישתיק מניין? התורה מן קבורה חמא: לרב מלכא שבור ליה אמר

עלמא בידא דטפשאי. דאיבעי ליה למימר כי קבור - דליעבד ליה ארון. תקברנו - לא משמע ליה...גברא. לההוא דליקברוה בעינא לא דאמר: - מינה? נפקא למאי - הוא? כפרה משום או הוא, בזיונא משום קבורה להו: איבעיא

אי אמרת משום בזיונא הוא - לא כל כמיניה...Rabbi Yoḥanan says in the name of Rabbi Shimon bar Yoḥai: From where is it derived that one who leaves his deceased unburiedovernight transgresses a prohibition? The verse states: “But you shall bury him [kavor tikberennu],” From here it is derived that onewho leaves his deceased overnight without burying him transgresses a prohibition. There are those who say that Rabbi Yoḥanansays in the name of Rabbi Shimon bar Yoḥai: From where in the Torah is there a hint to the mitzvah of burial? The verse states: “Butyou shall bury him [kavor tikberennu],” From here there is a hint to the mitzvah of burial in the Torah.Shavur Malka once said to Rav Chama, What it your source for burial in the Torah? Rav Chama was silent. Rav Chama bar Yaakovsaid: The world has been handed over to the fools! He should have responded, "קבור" Perhaps he [Shavur Malka] would have arguedthat a coffin should be made. So, respond "תקברנו." This [double language] isn't compelling to him...A dilemma was raised before the Sages: Is burial obligatory on account of disgrace or is it on account of atonement, What is thepractical difference? The Gemara answers: There is a difference in a case where one said before he died: I do not want them to burythat man, i.e., myself. If you say that burial is required on account of disgrace, it is not in his power to waive his own burial, as hisfamily shares in the disgrace...

4. Rashi [1040 – 1105, France], ibid. - שלא יתבזה לעין כל שיראוהו מת ונרקב ונבקע.משום בזיונא הוא

- כי היכי דתיהוי ליה כפרה בהטמנה זו, שמורידים ומשפילין אותו בתחתיות. או- דבזיון הוא לקרוביו.לא כל כמיניה

On account of disgrace - In order that they shouldn't be disgraced before all - dead, rotten, and burst open.Or - Where it would be an atonement through this burial, for they lower and "humble" him to the depths.It is not in his power - For it also degrading for his family.

5. Gem. Sanhedrin 47b [translation from Sefaria]וקרקע הוא, עולם קרקע עבדין, יאות להו: אמר לשמואל ליה אמרו אתו יומא. בת לאישתא עפרא מיניה שקלי הוו דרב קבריהלא במחובר - זרה עבודה מה זרה, לעבודה העם בני קבר מקיש העם. בני קבר על עפרה את וישלך דכתיב נאסרת. אינה עולםנמי, הכא אלהיהם. ההרים ולא אלהיהם, ההרים על הרמים, ההרים על אלהיהם את אתם ירשים אתם אשר דכתיב מיתסרא,

במחובר לא מיתסר.§ It was related that people would take dirt from the grave of Rav as a cure for a one-day fever. A number of people came and toldShmuel about this practice, thinking that perhaps the dirt should be forbidden, as one may not derive benefit from a corpse.Shmuel said to them: They are acting properly, as the dirt in the grave is natural ground, and natural ground does not becomeforbidden in any situation, as it is written: “And he brought out the ashera from the house of the Lord…and beat it into dust, andcast the dust of it upon the graves of the common people” (II Kings 23:6). This verse juxtaposes the graves of the common people toobjects of idol worship.This teaches that just as objects of idol worship are not forbidden when attached to the ground; the Gemara interjects by teachingthe source of this halakha: As it is written: “You shall utterly destroy all the places, in which the nations whom you are to dispossessserved their gods, upon the high mountains, and upon the hills, and under every leafy tree. And you shall overthrow their altars,and break their pillars, and burn their asherim with fire” (Deuteronomy 12:2–3); i.e., there is an obligation to destroy their gods thatare upon the mountains, but there is no obligation to destroy the mountains that are themselves their gods, meaning that if peopleworshipped the mountain itself as a god, there is no need to destroy it, as anything that is attached to the ground does not becomeforbidden. The Gemara resumes the comparison: Here too, with regard to the prohibition against deriving benefit from a corpse,the dirt in the grave that is attached to the ground does not become forbidden.

6. R' Moshe Feinstein [1895-1986, Russia, USA], Igrot Moshe YD 3:142עפר כדין הוא בטון בעצם הנה שס"ב. סימן יו"ד בש"ע כדאיתא דוקא בקרקע לקבור דצריך משום כן לקבור רשאין ...אם

ובקרקע שהוא בטון היא קבורה מעלייתא כמו בקרקע של אבנים ובאבן גדול כשהוא בקרקע אם חצב בתוכו קבר שפיר דמי......if one is permitted to bury [the deceased] in such a manner [in a cement chamber used to reinforce weak soil] for it is necessary toperform bury in the ground itself as taught in Shulchan Aruch, Yoreh Deah 362? Fundamentally, cement is considered dirt. Landthat is [made of] cement is a valid burial, as is burial in stones. [Similarly, if there] is a large stone in the ground into which a graveis carved, this is perfectly acceptable.

7. Gem. Sanhedrin 90b [Sefaria/Koren translation]עומדין, כשהן אלא הארץ, כעשב מעיר ויציצו דכתיב שכבי, דחיי ידענא אמרה: מאיר, רבי את מלכתא קליאופטרא שאלהצדיקים לבושין, בכמה יוצאה ערומה, שנקברה חיטה ומה מחיטה, וחומר קל לה: אמר עומדין? בלבושיהן או ערומין עומדין

שנקברים בלבושיהן - על אחת כמה וכמה. The Gemara relates: Queen Cleopatra asked Rabbi Meir a question. She said: I know that the dead will live, as it is written: “Andmay they blossom out of the city like grass of the earth” (Psalms 72:16). Just as grass grows, so too, the dead will come to life. Butwhen they arise, will they arise naked or will they arise with their garments? Rabbi Meir said to her: It is derived a fortiori fromwheat. If wheat, which is buried naked, meaning that the kernel is sown without the chaff, emerges with several garments ofchaff, all the more so will the righteous, who are buried with their garments, arise with their garments.

8. City cemetery in Herzliya - https://goo.gl/Ls94F2

☞ Reviving Burial in Tunnels, Arik Glazer - https://goo.gl/rkUZ11