tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20257999.post1551748561834086377..comments2024-03-29T11:40:46.477+03:00Comments on Life in Israel: Green/Jewish BurialRafi G.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00699851287106903971noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20257999.post-74551168320366623142010-10-21T20:52:33.687+02:002010-10-21T20:52:33.687+02:00Jewish cemeteries could adopt takkanot limiting gr...Jewish cemeteries could adopt takkanot limiting gravestones in size. Certainly there is no prohibition against letting native grasses grow. The cemetery in Prague where the Maharal is buried had bodies buried over other bodies.Yerachmiel Lopinhttp://FrumFollies.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20257999.post-8529288859946642952010-10-19T22:29:23.932+02:002010-10-19T22:29:23.932+02:00On the first point, I am well aware that "gre...On the first point, I am well aware that "green" is not to do with the color of the earth covering... My comments were about the concrete paved expanse of the cemeteries which are a non-eco-friendly environment and using valuable land which is in short supply in eretz hakodesh. Paved expanses destroy habitats for wildlife and disrupt water flow into the ground. It also means that that land is forever locked up in its current use and can never be reused for any other purpose.<br /><br />As for the issue of planting trees on graves we first need to differentiate between shallow rooted flowers and trees. Flowers can be planted though not by all opinions (see for example <a href="http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/1218970/jewish/Flowers-Jews-Gravesites.htm" rel="nofollow">here</a>)as there is a problem of hanaah from the grave and it is considered by some as hukot hagoyim.<br /><br />The same issur hanaah applies to trees so you can't use their fruit or wood. You probably can't use their shade either. I remember reading (and I just spent over an hour looking for it) that deep rooted trees are forbidden because of kvod hamet, but I couldn't find that.Rafi (S)https://www.blogger.com/profile/18103892755392538611noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20257999.post-36938847652026928092010-10-19T17:40:00.682+02:002010-10-19T17:40:00.682+02:00Agree with anon and yoni. My great grandmother is ...Agree with anon and yoni. My great grandmother is buried in a nice Jewish cemetery on LI and there's a nice green shrub where the slab would be in Israel. My grandmother is buried in a chassidish cemetary in NJ and she has grass over her kever, with a headstone. Where do you get the idea that vegetation isn't allowed?Commenter Abbihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07753256568022159103noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20257999.post-64976852189345212582010-10-19T17:15:30.275+02:002010-10-19T17:15:30.275+02:00Jewish tradition does not permit planting of veget...<i>Jewish tradition does not permit planting of vegetation on a grave.</i><br /><br />Really? I've seen it done a lot in the US.yoni r.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20257999.post-42993581140871308802010-10-19T17:15:14.004+02:002010-10-19T17:15:14.004+02:00Rafi (not G)
1. Going green has nothing to do with...Rafi (not G)<br />1. Going green has nothing to do with the color of a landscape. It's a life (or death) style. Buying a fuel efficient car, recycling and eating organic are all forms of green living. <br />2. Where do you get that from? Jewish cemeteries throughout the US have bushes/shrubbery planted on top of graves. Please provide sources.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20257999.post-17003273877837473662010-10-19T16:22:53.457+02:002010-10-19T16:22:53.457+02:00(Rafi not G)
Two ungreen points about Jewish buria...(Rafi not G)<br />Two ungreen points about Jewish burial though.<br /><br />Firstly, burial uses a lot of land which is covered with hard impervious pavement and tombstones, especially in Israel where graves are covered with slabs. This landscape is not exactly green. Also, at some point we are going to run out of space to bury people. In Jerusalem they have started multi-storey burial but these concrete monstrosities are anything but green and one day they will deteriorate and imagine what a balagan there will be trying to move the graves. My personal view is that after a certain amount of time the cemetery should be covered in dirt and we should start burying a second layer on top.<br /><br />Secondly, Jewish tradition does not permit planting of vegetation on a grave. This would probably be the greenest way to go. Be buried in the ground and plant a tree on top of the grave to return the materials to the ecosystem.Rafi (S)https://www.blogger.com/profile/18103892755392538611noreply@blogger.com