Comments on: Eco-Funeral? Jewish Burial Rites Are Green.

By: JournJock

JournJock — Fri, 13 May 2011 05:31:47 +0000

The picture chosen for this article does not clearly illustrate the stones left by visitors at a Jewish cemetery. For a picture with a good explanation, try Why do visitors leave stones?

By: JournJock

JournJock — Fri, 13 May 2011 05:19:23 +0000

A well-known Jewish example of an overcrowded burial site is the Old Jewish Cemetery in Prague.

The tourist information when I was last there pointed out that — since the Jews in the 15th to 18th centuries were allowed only this one burial site in Prague — they brought in ever more fresh dirt to bury ever more bodies on top of the now buried earlier graves, perhaps 10 or 12 layers worth, creating a clearly discernible hill.

By: Miriam Kresh

Miriam Kresh — Thu, 12 May 2011 16:03:46 +0000

In reply to Tinamarie Bernard. Thanks for the good words, Tinamarie.

By: Tinamarie Bernard

Tinamarie Bernard — Thu, 12 May 2011 09:02:14 +0000

My husband worked for years in the funeral business in the US, and his father here in Israel has helped prepared many bodies for burial according to Jewish traditions. Both affirm that the Jewish method is far less intrusive to the planet. The American Way of Death is a book that goes into the business (and polluted side) of burial. Great article.

By: Miriam Kresh

Miriam Kresh — Thu, 12 May 2011 06:11:29 +0000

Very interesting, Esther. Very ecology-friendly solutions to the problem of limited land in Israel.

By: Esther Hecht

Esther Hecht — Wed, 11 May 2011 18:06:39 +0000

Miriam Kresh wrote: “As Jews are a tiny minority in the world population, I don’t believe that expanding Jewish cemetery space poses a hazard to space for the living.”
In Israel, however, this is indeed a very serious problem, especially in the densely populated Tel Aviv metropolitan area and in Jerusalem. That is why Israel has had to adopt dense burial: that is, burial in multistory structures (you can see them in Jerusalem’s Har Hamenuhot cemetery), burial in above-ground niches, and double burial (of a husband and wife in the same grave). Dense burial is being adopted in Jewish cemeteries elsewhere, for example in Los Angeles. You can read more about it here: http://green-dense-burial.com/psburial.html which includes my article, written 10 years ago, on the subject: http://green-dense-burial.com/press/jghost.pdf

By: Miriam Kresh

Miriam Kresh — Tue, 10 May 2011 18:54:26 +0000

James, my experience with burial is limited also, but I do know that head stones are local stone, not imported. The custom of using head stones to mark the grave seems universal among Western cultures and is certainly not limited to Jewish burials.

The association that supervises care for the deceased, burials and cemetery maintenance is supported by donations and, at least in Israel, partly by the government. In turn, they themselves are active in charitable community work.I assume your organization also has at least a small staff that supervises burial procedure and maintenance of the grounds.

As Jews are a tiny minority in the world population, I don’t believe that expanding Jewish cemetery space poses a hazard to space for the living.

By: James Leedam

James Leedam — Tue, 10 May 2011 15:12:39 +0000

Karin, many thanks for that. Perhaps my question about grave reuse overshadowed the other environmental questions that I attempted to raise. Further comments would be appreciated. James

By: Karin Kloosterman

Karin Kloosterman — Tue, 10 May 2011 10:55:15 +0000

Jews don’t reuse graves because they believe when the messiah comes their bodies will live again. It’s very important for a Jew that their body remains intact.

By: James Leedam

James Leedam — Tue, 10 May 2011 09:28:40 +0000

I am not Jewish myself, but admire many aspects of Jewish funerals which are environmentally sensitive. However, my experience of Jewish cemeteries is that graves are capped with large imported memorial stones which stand proud of the ground. My understanding is that graves are not reused. This practice poses issues of environmental sustainability as the quarrying and importation of stones and the progressive spread of cemeteries impact on the land; financial sustainability, concerning the cost of perpetual maintenance of such graves; and social sustainability, as grave space runs out.

We manage six natural burial grounds around the UK and have welcomed a small number of Jewish families who have chosen to come to us. Our burial grounds offer a completely sustainable farewell – simple funerals in beautiful natural surroundings.