From some quick reading, the Jewish ban on cremation seems to stem from “To the earth you shall return”.
What is lost in cremation other than water?
I’ve read that Jewish tradition holds that a single bone, called the Luz bone, never decays and it is from this bone that resurrection shall take place. Scientifically speaking, why should this bone be different from all other bones? Why haven’t archeologists noticed the properties of the Luz bone? Theologically speaking, why should He who made all things need a bone to rebuild a body? He made Adam from dirt.
Would cremation be acceptable if the Luz bone was removed prior to cremation and then put in the urn with the ashes? Would cremation be acceptable if it was calculated exactly what chemicals and in what quantities were lost during cremation and they were interred with the ashes?
I had more questions, but they escape me at the moment.
Judaism believes that the body will be resurrected. Therefore, burning the body is disrespectful to it and, obviously, if it’s destroyed, it can’t be resurrected.
Of course, this led the rabbis to ask the question, “What if a body is defiled and burned? Will the person no longer be able to resurrect?” This was gotten around, like you said, by the Luz bone, which is a bone that’s indestructable and can’t decay. So, no matter what indignities you do to the body after death, there will still be something to resurrect from.
Obviously, there’s no such animal as a Luz bone. The rabbis, who weren’t anatomists, remember, made it up to get themselves out of logical difficulty. This doesn’t stop some of the haredi from claiming it exists, of course, but you’re not going to find it in an autopsy.
Okay, I know very little about this, but I’ll tell you what I do, and (since it’s Friday) I’m sure some more knowledgable people will chime in after the Sabbath is over. If there haven’t been too many responses by late Saturday night, you should give it a bump so that more potentially helpful people will see it.
But I can tell you that it’s not only cremation. The idea is to inter the body as intact as possible. We avoid autopsy if possible, because it cuts and harms the body. Organ donation (other than those like kidney donations that can be done from a live body) is a very dodgy issue under Orthodox Jewish law and is generally only done when there is a specific recipient whose immediate mortal danger outweighs the Jewish legal issue of keeping the body whole. (I’m not saying there aren’t many grey areas there; it’s a very contentious topic among legal scholars and a Jewish law bioethicist like Dr. Fred Rosner would have quite a lot to say on the topic. I’m telling you what’s done to err on the side of more strict observation of the law.)
Jewish treatment of the dead is very complex. It used to be done by family members, but as the years went on and it became less likely that those would be knowledgable/emotionally able enough to do so, communities established groups called the Chevra Kadisha to perform the ceremonial duties required. (It literally means something akin to “holy group.”) I’m not a member of a Chevra Kadisha, so I don’t know a whole lot about the processes. This NPR report should give a decent outsider’s view of what goes on. The first Chevra Kadisha was established in Prague at the Altneu Shul, which is famous for the mystical Golem story.
A lot of the purification rituals and treatment of the dead in Orthodox Judaism are very kabbalistic and out there. I’m just telling you this by way of explaining that this is a complex quetion you’re asking, and a layJew (like myself) who doesn’t actively participate in the Chevra Kadisha or have any expertise on Jewish bioethics will have trouble understanding it, and even more trouble explaining it.
That said, hopefully, we have a more informed person on the boards who can give you more complete information.
By the way, in my (albeit limited to high-school level) Jewish education, I have never once heard of the Luz bone or had it invoked to explain the Jewish opposition to cremation. That’s not to say that it doesn’t exist in rabbinic literature (I’m sure it does), but it’s not used in the more basic explanations I’ve been taught.
Zahava Thank you, but I’m not asking about organ donation or burial societies. I’m somewhat familiar with both. The local PBS station had a wonderful piece on burial societies. It including a recreation (using a mannequin) of the preparation of the body.
I’m familiar with the general principal of respect for the dead, no autopsies etc. It’s the reasoning behind this principal and what exactly constitutes disrespect that I’m after.
If the deceased had expressed a wish for cremation, how is it disrespectful? Judaism is very much in favor of a body putrefying and becoming mulch. How is cremating the body into fertilizer not returning to the earth- just faster?
I’d imagine it has something to do with the perception that we shouldn’t actively destroy G-d’s handiwork, much like we can’t cut ourselves on purpose or get tattoos, but honestly, I don’t know. The best I can do is to refer you to a book that addresses it: Biomedical Ethics and Jewish Law, a textbook by the aforementioned Fred Rosner. Hopefully, an expert source can be of more help.
It’s not obvious to me. If G-d can ressurect the dead from one bone, why is ressurection from a few pounds of ash a problem?
Guinastasia
Conservadox. I stand between Conservative and Orthodox Judaism.
I know we’re not supposed to cremate. But, I want to know why, and I want to know the why behind those reasons.It may turn out that it’s like chicken with cheese. Technically it’s allowable, but tradition is against it.
Your presence lets me ask a related question. I know that cemeteries used to dealing with the Orthodox allow mourners to fill in the grave themselves. Is it possible for mourners to dig the grave as well? I suspect the main problem will be OSHA
Hmmmm, hell if I know. I doubt it-I’ll have to ask my dad. OSHA, not to mention graves have to be a certain depth, have to have a liner, that sort of thing.
Here’s an Orthodox answer, btw, from Rabbi Ullman at Ohr Somayach:
He says that cremation is wrong for the following reasons:
Burning the body is a disgrace…we can see in the bible that it’s only done to wicked people.
Burning the body is forbidden by law. There are two mitzvah, one that says that bodies must be buried, and another that says that bodies can not be left unburied, and there’s a principle that if something has to be buried, it can’t be burned instead.
It hurts the soul of the dead person, because it destroys the body too quickly, before the soul can completely leave it.
A person who’s willingly cremated won’t be resurrected, because he’s rejecting the resurrection…he’s having his body destroyed rather than letting it decay like it should. Obviously, if someone is cremated against his will, God is merciful, and will resurrect that person anyway.
Crap. I forgot the cement liner (which has softball sized holes in the sides to allow the body to return to the earth). OTOH, IIRC DancesWithCats is certified to run a backhoe. Maybe I could rent the backhoe, get him to dig the grave, and pay him off with cool stuff from the deceased’s estate.
You can’t avoid death or taxes. But, I plan to cheat most of the fee’s associated with death.
Captain Amazing
2- I was thinking burning, and then burial. Burying the ashes (in an open container so that they may return to the earth) in a Jewish cemetery.
3-I’ve read this elsewhere and it confuses me.
4- I disagree with this. The most that can be assumed is that the person rejects the idea that a Luz bone is necessary to be resurrected. A person may embrace the resurrection, trusting that G-d can raise ashes.
Doc, you should know not to ask such a question on a Friday. As a matter of fact, I believe that last Friday, someone titled a thread “If it’s Friday, it must be a Judaism question” or something similar.
I know you know, which is why I mentioned. I hate when I think “I should ask a question on the SDMB” and then forget. I’m sure cmkeller or Zev will be by on Saturday night or Sunday.
Because you’re thinking of ashes and burning differently than they did. You’re thinking of the ashes as being the remains of the burned material…the matter that the fire didn’t burn. They thought that burning to ashes destroyed the burned material completely. The ashes aren’t the body, in other words. The body is gone.
There’s a belief that, after death, the soul hangs around the body until the body decomposes, mourning for its death, and because it doesn’t want to leave. It takes time for the soul to realize that its body is dead and that that part of its existance is over. If the corpse is burned, it’s destroyed before the soul is able to come to terms with its death, and that’s psychologically or spiritually painful to it (likewise, if it’s embalmed, the soul isn’t able to begin the process of getting used to no longer having a body, because the body just lies there, looking perfect, and the soul wants to go back in)
Maybe, but that’s still a matter of hubris, then…saying, “Look, God, I know you said I shouldn’t be cremated so that I can be resurrected, but I did it anyway. If you’re really so great, you shouldn’t let the fact that there are just ashes there stop you.”