Non-Orthodox Burial In Israel: Is It A Joke?

Imagine this. You are a Reform Jew living in America. You have met the love of your life while traveling abroad in Israel and decide to settle down. You and your partner are married in the United States, because you want your family to attend your wedding, and then you move to Israel. The land is beautiful, and your new house in Tel Aviv is perfect for you and your new husband. You attend synagogue regularly, keep kosher and celebrate all Jewish holidays. While going about your morning routine, you kiss your children goodbye and head to work. You read the newspaper as the bus makes its way through the city. The bus slows down at a bus stop and a suicide bomber steps inside. 3…2…1. His bomb goes off and your mangled body lies on the street, sirens wailing around you. Your husband attempts to bury you in the local Orthodox cemetery, knowing you wanted a Jewish burial. He is told that you are not Jewish enough because you are a Reform Jew and that he should try a Catholic cemetery nearby.



Situations happen like this in Israel all the time. In The Israelis, there is a woman named Tamar who attends her grandfather’s funeral. She complains that if you want a Jewish funeral in Israel, there is only the Orthodox cemetery option. There are a few secular cemeteries and kibbutzim as well, but space is limited and it is just not the same. The Orthodox cemetery would not allow her Rabbi to do the funeral service for her grandfather. He, like the story in the beginning, was not Jewish enough to conduct the service. Even though her family was not super religious, the service had to be. In the Jewish religion, there are a few things we do when someone we know dies. The Mourners Kaddish is a prayer that we say and taking a shovel and placing dirt on the casket is another ritual. In Orthodox Judaism, the shoveling is only for males and men and women cannot pray together. When Tamar recited the prayer in from of men and shoveled the dirt, she received dirty looks and was told to stop. She does not feel that she did something wrong. She states that, “I also wanted people to realize that they shouldn’t have a monopoly on Judaism. Who says our way of death has to be Orthodox? We should have the right to decide how we can bury our relatives.”



There is a problem in Israel. There is a lack of cemeteries that are not Orthodox based for those that want or need another kind of funeral. In Orthodox cemetaries, sometimes there is a section that is set aside for “people whose Jewishness is in question.” Although they might be Jewish, have a Jewish mother and abide by Jewish law, something is wrong and it is not permitted for them to be buried in a Jewish cemetery. When Yitzhak Rabin was Prime Minister, there was a controversy over a soldier being buried in an Orthodox cemetery because he was not Jewish according to Jewish law. Rabin made the decision to allow him to be buried in the cemetery, but there are many Jewish families who have encountered the same problem.



In 1996, the Knesset passed a law that asked for the making of cemeteries that were not Orthodox based. Getting this to happen is still a battle. An association called Menucha Nechona, which means Rest In Peace, was established in 1986 and has tried to create alternate cemeteries for the Jews who do not/cannot be buried in Orthodox cemeteries. They have created one cemetery in Beer Sheva in March of 1999, but their other cemeteries have been put on hold. Since created, the cemetery in Beer Sheva has held over 300 funerals, including those in suicide bombings. The process of starting cemeteries in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem has been an ongoing battle and they are still facing issues. Some Orthodox Jews believe that these alternative cemeteries are a good idea, while others like Knesset member Avraham Ravitz believe that the way it is set up for the doubtfully Jewish people as “a generous solution.”

The article from JWeekly sounds like it is a progressive writer. They make the Reform and Conservative Jews look good and the Orthodox Jews look bad. Although there are facts, the author uses the death of suicide bombers to bring emotion to the table. This causes the reader to favor the Non-Orthodox Jews when it comes to the issue of Jewish burial. It was a good article, but it seemed biased.