On One Foot
DAVID ZVI HOFFMAN, MELAMED LEHO’IL II:114 (1927)
4 THIS IS A NOTE appended in 1980 to the end of the original responsum on cremation from 1891. The original author, Solomon Freehof, exhaustively examined all the tradi- tional sources regarding burial and concluded that, for Reform Jews, the practice of cremation was permitted. And yet, the Reform movement, ever true to their ethos of reexamining tra- dition, allowed that there are many who are deeply disturbed by crema- tion since the Shoah. This deep emo- tional distress is not enough to reverse the movement’s position, but this note gives voice to decades of trauma and reflects the attitudes of many Jews over the past decades. The practice remains permis- sible, however, for our families. Ashes of a cremation should be treated with respect as human re- mains. They may be interred in our cemeteries, subject to the rules of the cemetery. The ancient Jewish preference for burial within a per- son’s personal property may be hon- ored more easily in the case of ashes than in the case of a body, according to some State laws, but we still favor use of a Jewish communal cemetery or mausoleum. Because a building in which the ashes of a Jew are perma- nently entombed might well seem to a Cohen to be like a cemetery which he would hesitate to enter, we oppose keeping ashes in a home. “CREMATION FROM THE JEWISH STANDPOINT,” AMERICAN REFORM RESPONSA 100 (1980) In this generation of the Holocaust we are sensitive to terrible images as- sociated with the burning of a body. Rabbis may, therefore, choose to dis- courage the option of cremation.
3 CREMATION BECAME THE VOGUE in the late 19th century with the invention of more modern methodologies. This spurred a great deal of writing about the topic. The vast majority of Orthodox authori- ties were against it, yet there remained an open question as to what to do with cremated ashes. The author of this responsa, David Zvi Hoff- man, headed a yeshivah in Berlin and was a leading halakhic authority. He was among the first of the proto-Modern Orthodox rabbis: deep- ly committed to a halakhic life, but willing to accept that the world was changing and turning one’s back on it was not an option. Here, he carefully threads the needle of opposing cremation, while allowing for a more dignified approach to remains and for living family mem- bers to mourn appropriately where cremation was done nonetheless. In contemporary orthodoxy, many authorities still forbid any involve- ment in a funeral that has a cremation. Some go so far as to say that Kaddish should not be said, and shivah should not be observed. Oth- ers, following in Hoffman’s footsteps, take a more moderate approach. And if the ashes are taken to the cemetery to a special place for him, the rabbi shall not eulogize the deceased, and they shall place him in a coffin like other dead people and bury him in a coffin, and the cantor shall say the appropriate prayers with the mourners and the mourners shall say the Kaddish. The hevra kadisha shall not be involved in the funeral. Only the hired grave- diggers who work for a wage shall supervise this burial. Regard- ing mourning, if the relatives ask, it is permissible after the burial. It is clear that it is forbidden to cremate a Jewish corpse, for two reasons. It nullifies the positive commandment of burial. It does not matter if the ashes are buried, or if one fulfills all the mitzvahs of burial after cremation. Even if you claim that the ashes would require burial, the commandment is to bury the entire body and the ashes are not the entire body. Furthermore, it is forbidden to burn any human corpse, because this is considered to be a great desecration of the dead, both according to the Bible and accord- ing to the Talmud. … In an observant community with its own cemetery, one is obliged to ensure that those who are cremated will not be buried there. If it ever happens that an observant in- dividual dies and his heirs demand that his body, which they cre- mated, be given to the cemetery, they should give him a place at the edge of the cemetery. In mixed communities, a separate sec- tion should be designated for cremated remains. No one from the community should be employed by a crematorium, so that no one will assist in committing a transgression, the heirs shall do everything according to their wishes, and the community shall have no part in that act.
5786 ַקִיץ 19
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