Soc.Culture.Jewish Newsgroups Frequently Asked Questions and Answers URL: www.scjfaq.org/faq/11-06-12.html

www.scjfaq.org/faq

Question 11.6.12:
Death and Burial: Can Jews and Non-Jews be buried together?

Traditional Judaism would not permit such mixed burial. However, there are circumstances where a non-Jewish cemetary sets aside a demarcated region of land to be used exclusively by Jews, in which case it is permissible for Jews to be buried in this section.

Conservative Judaism holds with the traditional rules.

Reform Judiasm, in principle, will bury non-Jewish spouses of Jews next to the Jewish spouse; they also bury as Jews some whom the more traditional movements would not consider Jews. However, if the Reform Jew is using a recognized Jewish cemetary, the latter is more likely to occur than the former (it all depends on that cemetary's practice, so ask).

Conservative Judaism has issued a responsa dealing with the impacts of Reform Jewish practice. These subjects are discussed in "A Matter of Grave Concern: A Question of Mixed Burial" Rabbi Ben Zion Bergman, approved by the Committee of Jewish Law and Standards (CJLS), January 30, 1991. Published in "Response 1991-2000" The Rabbinical Assembly, p.418-425

The FAQ is a collection of documents that is an attempt to answer questions that are continually asked on the soc.culture.jewish family of newsgroups. It was written by cooperating laypeople from the various Judaic movements. You should not make any assumption as to accuracy and/or authoritativeness of the answers provided herein. In all cases, it is always best to consult a competent authority--your local rabbi is a good place to start.

Hopefully, the FAQ will provide the answer to your questions. If it doesn't, please drop Email to questions@scjfaq.org. The FAQ maintainer will endeavor to direct your query to an appropriate individual that can answer it. If you would like to be part of the group to which the maintainer directs questions, please drop a note to the FAQ maintainer at maintainer@scjfaq.org.

© (c) 1993-2004 Daniel P. Faigin <maintainer@scjfaq.org>