top of page
Search

The Fire That Should Never Burn: A Plea for Halakhic Burial

by Ram ben Ze'ev


The Fire That Should Never Burn: A Plea for Halakhic Burial
The Fire That Should Never Burn: A Plea for Halakhic Burial

An alarming statistic has emerged in recent years—50% of American Jews are cremated. Not just secular Jews, not just unaffiliated Jews. Jews. Our brothers and sisters, each created in the image of G-D, choosing a path that is not only foreign to our tradition but in direct violation of Halakhah (הלכה, Jewish law).


Cremation is not a modern innovation. It is an ancient practice rooted in paganism and used by empires that sought to erase the uniqueness of the Jewish soul. But for Jews, from the time of Avraham Avinu (אברהם אבינו, our father Abraham), burial has been the sacred method of honouring the human body. The Torah records in ספר בראשית (Sefer Bereshit, Book of Genesis) how Avraham negotiated to bury Sarah in the Ma'arat HaMachpelah (מערת המכפלה, Cave of the Patriarchs), establishing the precedent of respectful burial.



The soul is not merely released by death. According to Tanya, the soul remains connected to the body for a time after passing. The Holy Zohar teaches that the body, created by G-D and sanctified through mitzvot (מצוות, commandments), must return to the earth, “כי עפר אתה ואל עפר תשוב”—“for dust you are, and to dust you shall return” (ספר בראשית 3:19). Cremation defies this Divine instruction, severing the body’s connection to holiness with fire.


Fire, in our tradition, is sacred when commanded—such as the fire upon the altar, the flame of the Menorah (מנורה), or the consuming fire of Mount Sinai. But to use fire to destroy the physical vessel of a Jewish soul is not honour—it is desecration. Chilul HaGuf (חילול הגוף), a violation of the very body that once carried Torah, observed Shabbat, and kissed the mezuzah.



Some claim cremation is cheaper. Others argue it is more “modern” or “eco-friendly.” But no cost-saving, no convenience, no social trend can override the law of the King of Kings. Burial is not optional for a Jew—it is commanded. And it is an act of chesed shel emet (חסד של אמת, a true kindness), the only kindness one can do for another without any expectation of repayment.


If this statistic is accurate—if one in every two Jews in America is being cremated—then we must ask: Where is our voice? Where is the rabbinic leadership warning against this? Where is the communal outrage? Where is our Jewish soul?


This must be a call to action.


We must educate our children. We must prepare halakhic wills that forbid cremation. We must support chevra kadisha (חברה קדישא, Jewish burial societies). We must confront funeral homes that push cremation as a "simpler" option. And we must speak—not whisper—about the sacredness of burial.



To every Jew reading this: even if you have strayed far from observance, do not let your final act be a rejection of the covenant. Return, even in death, to the earth from which you were formed. Give your soul the honour it deserves. Allow your body to rest among your people.

Because 50% is not just a number. It is a crisis.


Let us bring it down. Let us return to the eternal path.


>>>> BUY ME A COFFEE <<<<


###


bottom of page