Cremation

Question

As a conservative Jew can my body be cremated after I die? Is it different for reformed Jews?

0

Answers

  1. The Just Ask! - AskTheRabbi.org Team

    According to Jewish Law, cremation is forbidden for all Jews, regardless of their affiliation. Jewish theology teaches that cremation declares that this world is the beginning and end of Man. A basis of Jewish faith is that this is not true. The body is held on deposit, and together with the soul it really belongs to God. He decides when and where man should die, and He decides what to do with the body once it has fulfilled its this worldly purpose. In fact, so severe is this prohibition that Jewish Law dictates that one should not sit Shivah over someone who was cremated voluntarily and one is not obliged to bury the ashes of one who was willingly cremated. In addition, the body of a cremated person is not liable for resurrection, not so much because of the physical impediment but rather in line with the diction that one who does not believe in resurrection will not experience it.

    The prohibition against cremation is only applicable to someone who voluntarily requested it. All of the Jews over the generations who were burned to death at the hands of the various bestial murderers simply for the “crime” of being Jewish have a place in the World to Come and they are considered to be Jews who have sanctified God’s Name by giving up their lives.

    Best wishes from the AskTheRabbi.org Team