Siman 362

In Sanhedrin (Sanhedrin 46b) Rava said: From where is burial derived from the Torah? As it is said: "For you shall surely bury him." That is to say: that the deceased should not be left exposed—this is a matter necessitated by the intellect, and all of humanity acknowledges this. However, according to the intellect, it would suffice to enclose him in an iron casket and place him in some cellar. But the Torah insisted that the body of a person be hidden in the ground, as it is written: "and to dust you shall return." Therefore, one who places his deceased in a casket and does not bury him in the ground violates the prohibition of "you shall not let remain overnight." Therefore it is written in the verse regarding "you shall not let remain overnight": "you shall surely bury him"—a double expression, specifically in the ground; for from "bury" alone I would have said to bury him in a casket alone, and for this the Torah doubled "you shall surely bury him." And if he placed him in a casket, and buried the casket in the ground, he does not violate it.

However, even though in such a case he does not transgress it, nevertheless, the essence of the mitzvah of burial is that the body of the person be laid upon the actual ground, as it is written: "And the dust returns to the earth as it was." And this is the primary rectification of man. And who is greater to us than the holy body of our holy teacher, and it is said in the Yerushalmi at the end of Kilayim that he commanded in his will that they should not increase his shrouds, and that they should pierce his coffin, see there. The Ramban and the Tur explained that they should remove the bottom board from the coffin, so that the body will be laid to the earth. And it is not only necessary in Eretz Yisrael, as it is written: "And His land will atone for His people." Rather, even in the diaspora, as it is written: "And to dust you shall return" – for this is the rectification of man after the sin of Adam HaRishon. The Zohar and the kabbalists elaborated much on this, and the plain meaning of the verse is so.

And that which they placed Joseph the Righteous in an aron, as it is written: "and he was placed in an aron in Egypt" – the reason is simple, because since he commanded not to bury him in Egypt, they were forced to place him in an aron and hide him in the Nile. And upon their departure from Egypt, Moses our teacher took the aron of Joseph, as is explained in the Torah. And for this reason they also practiced in the time of the sages of the Shas, as it is taught: An aron that passes from place to place, because the burial was in another place. And also our holy teacher, they buried him in another place, as is explained in the Yerushalmi there and in the Gemara, the twelfth chapter of Ketubot. And at the place of burial, they perforated the aron. And there are further reasons from the sages of truth regarding the aron of Joseph. Therefore, among us the simple custom is to lay the body upon the actual dust, and to place boards and dust upon it. And in the Tur it is written in the name of the Gaon that to place dust upon his face is a disgrace, and it is not correct to do so. And not all places are equal in this matter, see there. However, the small amount of dust that they place, since they do it for his benefit – this is not a disgrace, for specifically much dust is a disgrace (Prisha, letter 6). And now they have the custom to place a little from the dust of Eretz Yisrael. (See Shach and Prisha, regarding what they practiced to make for a kohen a complete aron. And they wondered at this, and we have not heard of this custom.)

One places the deceased in the grave on his back with his face upward, like a person who is sleeping. And so it is found in the Yerushalmi there, that he commanded: Place me on my back, not standing and not sitting, and not with his head placed between his knees, but rather like a person who is sleeping; see there. And even though one who sleeps lies on his side, and indeed in the Yerushalmi there Rabbi Yirmeyah also commanded to lay him on his side, see there, nevertheless, in the fifth chapter of Bava Batra (Bava Batra 74a) regarding the dead of the wilderness, it is stated that they lay on their backs; see there. And in the Yerushalmi, the ninth chapter of Nazir (Halacha 3), it is stated: What is "lying in his usual manner"? His legs are extended and his hands are upon his heart; see there. And when his hands are upon his heart—it is necessary that he lies on his back. And it must be said that Rabbi Yirmeyah commanded to differentiate him from all other deceased. And also the Rambam in the fourth chapter wrote that his face is upward, and such is the simple custom, and one should not change it. (The Yerushalmi that he commanded "place me on my back etc."—the Tur brought it, and I have not found it.)

There are places where they place the deceased with his head to the north and his feet to the south. And there are those where the head is to the west and the feet are to the east. There is no strict requirement in this, and according to the custom so shall they do for everyone equally, and not change from one deceased to another.

One may not bury two deceased persons in one grave. There must be a wall of the grave separating them, that is to say: a wall of earth. There is no minimum measure for the thickness of the wall. Even the bones of another—one may not place them in the grave of the deceased, and likewise one may not place a deceased person in a grave where the bones of another are placed. However, one may bury a man with his son or his daughter when they are small in one grave, and likewise a mother with her small son and daughter. This is the rule: Anyone who slept with him during his lifetime—there is no concern regarding placing them in one grave when they are small, but not when they are large. And grandchildren—they are like children regarding this matter. And likewise the children of daughters, it makes no difference if it is a son or a daughter.

And know that that which we wrote, that there is no measure for the thickness of the wall between grave and grave, so it appears to us from the language of the Tur and the Shulchan Aruch. And so too from Semachot chapter thirteen, which prohibited only this [being] side by side. And I have seen great later authorities who wrote that one requires six tefachim between grave and grave (the Gaon Rabbi Akiva Eiger and Chakham Tzvi siman 149), as in [the case of] grave upon grave which will be explained. And they bring proof from a Mishnah in Bava Batra (Bava Batra 100b) that one who sells burial places in niches (kukhin), that one requires a separation between niche and niche of six tefachim, see there. And I wonder: why did they not explicitly state the measure as they did regarding grave upon grave? And furthermore: if so, according to the approach of the Rambam in chapter twenty-one of Mekhirah, who wrote that the separation is an amah and a half, see there, if so, here too we should require this? And this certainly cannot be said, that grave side by side should be more stringent than grave upon grave. And from the niches in Bava Batra there is no proof in my humble opinion, because it was their way over the course of time to gather the bones from the niches and bury them in another place, as this is the law of gathering bones in Moed Katan (Moed Katan 8a), and below in siman 403. Therefore one requires a large separation, because afterwards they will open the graves, and there is a concern of intermingling. Therefore one requires a distance of six tefachim. And so it is implied from the words of the Ramban in the book Torat HaAdam, which our teacher, the Beit Yosef, brought in his great book, where he wrote: Therefore they distance [them] enough so that the niches will stand, and not come to collapse, see there. And he did not give a measure of six tefachim. However, from the words of the Gaon that the Tur brought in siman 363, it is clear that one requires six tefachim, see there. And if so, it is to be wondered why they did not mention this? And also now, it seems to me that they are not exacting in this. Therefore it appears in my humble opinion that this was all when there was a concern lest they would need to open the graves and gather the bones, which is not the case in this time. However, certainly if it is only within one's ability to distance three tefachim – one must do so.

One may not place two deceased persons one upon the other, even with a separation of earth, and even if they are placed in coffins, for this is a disgrace to the one placed below. And if one did place them—they compel the upper one to be removed. However, if there is a separation of six tefachim of earth between them—it is permitted. And so responded Rav Hai Gaon, as the Tur wrote in siman 363, see there (and see Shach, subsection 4). And one does not bury a wicked person next to a righteous person, nor even a severely wicked person next to a lightly wicked person. And similarly, one does not bury a righteous person, and certainly not an average person, next to an exceptionally pious person. But one may bury a penitent next to a completely righteous person. And similarly, two who were enemies to one another—one should not bury them together, for even in their death they have no rest together. And it is in the testament of our teacher, Judah the Pious, that when one purifies the deceased—one does not flip the board upon which they purify him. And one must see that the deceased does not clench his fingers, but rather the fingers should be extended. And after they have purified the deceased—they should not leave him in that same place where they purified him, but rather they should lay him in the house facing the doorway from which they must take him out.