Guide to Jewish Cemetery Elements, Prohibitions and How to Conduct a Visit
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G uide to Jewish Cemetery Elements, prohibitions and how to conduct a visit 1 1. WHAT IS A MATSEVAH? Matsevah is a Hebrew word meaning stone or pillar. In Genesis 28:11 Jacob places a stone under his head and dreams of a ladder with angels ascending to heaven. This may be an obscure source of the use of the word matsevah as a tombstone. In biblical times, a matsevah was sometimes called a tsiyun (Hebrew for sign). 2. DOES TRADITION REQUIRE JEWISH GRAVES TO HAVE A TOMBSTONE? The first mention of a Jewish tombstone is in Genesis 35:20 where Jacob set up a pillar upon [Rachel's] grave on the road to Bethlehem. Grave markers only became a standard burial practice during the Middle Ages, which was probably enforced by the belief that like soil, the stone added weight to contain any chance of the ghost leaving the body. Talmudic rabbis called a gravestone a nefesh (soul) as there was a Jewish mystical belief that a soul hovers over the place where its body is buried. The stone honors the soul by giving it a place to reside. As civilization grew less superstitious, the stone became associated with affection and respect. There were Jewish scholars during the medieval period who ruled in favor of a gravestone, most notably, Rabbi Solomon ben Aderet (1235-1310) of 2 Spain. His judgment may have been influenced by the Talmudic injunction that Kohanim not come into contact with dead people for fear of spiritual defilement. Jewish law also acknowledges that the erection of a physical monument helps mourners accept their loss. 3. WHY ARE MOST JEWISH TOMBSTONES SIMPLE IN DECORATION? Jewish tradition does not favor displays of opulence. There are both obvious and esoteric reasons for this. Until the re- establishment of the State of Israel, the survival of a Jewish community was often at the whimsical discretion of the ruling power. During the Middle Ages, anti-Jewish prejudice shifted from the deicide charge to the idea that Jews were bent on revenge against the Christian world in the form of usury and price fixing. Wealthy Jewish communities were at risk of being held to ransom or of being destroyed by a mob of debtors. The wisdom of not flaunting one's good fortune extended to Jewish burial. A second argument against elaborate gravestones holds that in death the rich and the poor meet together (Proverbs 22:2) and the stone should reflect this. Thirdly, in a related belief, Orthodox Judaism holds 3 that modesty is necessary to create the levels of spirituality necessary to bring the Messiah. Ostentatious stones are sometimes viewed as undermining the belief in a Messiah and resurrection. Finally, a fourth argument in the Talmud in Bereishit Rabbah 82:10 by Rabbi Simeon ben Gamaliel posits that “we need not erect monuments for the righteous; their accomplishments are their memorials.” It is interesting that traditionally in Morocco and increasingly in Israel (notably in Mount Herzl Military Cemetery) Jewish graves do not have headstones but marble slabs positioned horizontally over the grave. 4. WHY ARE JEWISH HEADSTONES FAVOURED OVER FOOTSTONES? Jewish gravestones are placed near the head because the brain is considered the most important part of the body. During the cleaning of a Jewish corpse, the head is washed first. Foot stones are used as an architectural device to add symmetry to the grave and to show visitors where the body is buried in order not to walk above it. Foot stones are small and are easier to move, which could result in a burial location being lost. 4 5. WHAT IS AN OHEL? Ohel is Hebrew for tent. Rabbis and other important Jewish people are sometimes buried under a tent-shaped gravestone. According to Jewish law, any structure with a roof may be called an ohel. In ancient times, a tent was often used by royalty. Roman emperors would live in large tents during their campaigns. As Jews disfavor Roman tradition because of the associated pagan element, this is probably not the reason why rabbis are buried under an ohel. The reference in Genesis 18:6 to angels visiting Abraham in his tent may be a more valid suggestion for the practice. It is widely believed, however, that the stone ohel represents the Sanctuary that housed the Ark of the Covenant. 6. WHY DO SOME JEWISH TOMBSTONES HAVE FACING THAT RESEMBLES AN ASHLAR WALL WITH JERUSALEM STONE? Ashlar is a thin, dressed rectangle of stone for facing walls rough or finished. Jerusalem Stone is cut in ashlar design. Walls on Jewish tombstones are usually associated with the Western Wall in Jerusalem and symbolize the desire of Diaspora Jews to return to the Promised Land. Jerusalem Stone was used to build many holy sites in Israel including the Western Wall (the remaining wall of the 5 Temple). It is not surprising that an ashlar wall is incorporated in the emblem of the city of Jerusalem. Sir Ronald Storrs, Jerusalem's first British civil governor, recognized the need to preserve Jerusalem as a city of antiquity, and he drafted a law to preserve Jerusalem's architecture for centuries. The law required all buildings within municipal Jerusalem to be faced with Jerusalem Stone, limestone that has been quarried in that region for almost four thousand years. The wall symbol on Jewish tombstones may have a sandblasted facing to emulate the ancient look of limestone used in Jerusalem. 7. WHY DO SOME JEWISH TOMBSTONES HAVE A SYMBOL OF A TREE? On Jewish and Christian tombstones, the Tree of Life (Etz Chayim in Hebrew), or Tree of Knowledge, is often depicted as a pomegranate tree, as rising from a jar or mountain, or being guarded by a griffin. The tree is first mentioned in Genesis 2:9 where it is described as both a tree of good and evil, and as a tree of knowledge. God explains to Adam that eating the fruit from the tree will result in death. A snake convinces Eve that God is bluffing and does not want the first humans to become enlightened enough 6 to threaten His domain over the world. Eve eats the fruit and convinces Adam to do so as well. They suddenly find themselves aware of their nakedness, an image of paradise lost, and the pair is expelled from the Garden of Eden. The Tree of Life, especially one guarded by a griffin, suggests a return to paradise. Scandinavian mythology has a similar tree: Yggdrasil, a giant ash, has roots and branches that bind heaven, earth and hell together. 8. WHY DOES A BEAR SYMBOL APPEAR ON SOME JEWISH GRAVES? As Jewish law prohibits human imagery on Jewish graves, bears, which can walk upright, are sometimes used to represent humans. The scouts who returned from Canaan to the Israelite camp with grapes are sometimes portrayed as two bears carrying a staff from which is hanging a cluster of grapes. Dov is Hebrew for bear. In Eastern Europe, Jewish names were often a hyphenated compound of Hebrew and Yiddish, for example, Dov-Ber. 9. WHY ARE PROTECTIVE IRON RAILINGS DISCOURAGED? 7 As iron railings are an Industrial Age architectural feature, it was a 19th century rabbi, Jacob Tennenbaum (1832-1897) of Hungary, who commented on them. He objects to their use for three reasons: first, iron railings constitute an imitation of Christian practice. It is noteworthy to mention that Judaism has many prohibitions against certain practices on the grounds that they are performed by people who are not Monotheistic, such as the Romans. Secondly, as all people become equal in death, an iron railing would be demeaning to poor families who cannot afford such protection. Finally, iron is a symbol of war and according to many is inappropriate for a cemetery. 10. ARE MAUSOLEUMS KOSHER FOR JEWISH BURIAL? A mausoleum may be defined as a magnificent tomb. It should be noted that Abraham was buried in one. Talmudic law is quite specific about what constitutes a kosher mausoleum: Open burial above ground is prohibited as it is disrespectful to the body (for similar reasons Jews do not have a wake). If the structure is to stand above ground level, the coffin must be filled with soil with a mausoleum enclosing the grave. The requirement is then to bury the body in earth, either directly or indirectly. In the case of an ohel 8 (see question 5), the structure is usually erected after burial and is, therefore, technically not a mausoleum. Above-ground burial is sometimes mandatory, such as in New Orleans which has a high water table. 11. WHY ARE TORAH SCROLLS BURIED IN THE CEMETERY? In ancient times, worn out religious books were often stored in a secret room or attic in the synagogue called a genizah, for example, in the famous Fostat Genizah in Egypt that was built in 882. In time the room becomes too full to hold the material, which needs to be disposed of in a modest manner. Jews bury Torahs in cemeteries because these scrolls contain the written name of God, which is revered and never obliterated. Some large Jewish cemeteries have a special section where discarded religious material is occasionally brought tor burial. 12. WHY DO JEWISH GRAVES TRADITIONALLY FACE EAST? East is the traditional Jewish direction of Jerusalem because Jerusalem is east of Europe. When Jews pray they face east because it 9 is believed that prayers ascend via Jerusalem. Jews also pray racing east to personify their longing to return to Zion. Some Jewish cemeteries are designed to have the head facing east, but generally Jews are buried with their feet facing Jerusalem as custom holds that when the Messiah arrives, resurrected Jews need to know in which direction to walk.