Due to health, humanitarian and religious considerations, burial related issues are decided by the State of Israel. The 1971 Law for Jewish Religious Services established that the Minister of Religious Affairs would collaborate with certain other bodies in establishing general principles for services related to funerals, burials, and bereaved families and overseeing their implementation. The National Insurance Law of 1995 entrusted government agencies with determining the financial aspects of burial. Burial itself is performed by approximately 126 local chevra kadishas, religious burial societies, throughout the country, who work in conjunction with the hospitals in their area. In addition, there are about 550 legal small burial societies, which operate in kibbutzim, moshavim, and on behalf of different Christian or civil groups. The government designates certain areas for use as cemeteries; the burial societies are then responsible for division of plots, digging of graves, maintenance of the cemetery, organization of funerals, and performance of burials. The burial societies also have unofficial duties, including the burial of body parts in cases of accidents, John Doe burials, and the identification of bodies, which they perform in cooperation with the police, the Health Ministry, and local emergency services.
The accepted practice in Israel is that every person is buried according to his religious affiliation: Jews according to Jewish tradition, members of other religions according to their beliefs, and religiously unaffiliated individuals – in a civil burial. Most Jews (and some religiously unaffiliated individuals) are buried by chevra kadishas, which are responsible for most Jewish burial plots throughout the country. In 1996, a law was enacted that allowed every Israeli citizen to choose whether to be buried ‘according to the law of Moses and Israel’ – by a chevra kadisha – or in a civil ceremony – by a private burial society, such as ‘Menucha Nechona’ or the Movement for Progressive and Traditional Judaism. The law mandates allocation of alternative burial plots in 21 places throughout the country. In practice, aside from limited plots in the cemetery in Be’er Sheva, in existence since 1998, these plots are still in planning stages. Many kibbutzim and moshavim have their own burial plots where burials are carried out. Military burial ceremonies in military plots are carried out according to the 1950 Military Cemeteries Law and they are always (in the case of Jews) performed ‘according to the Law of Moses and Israel.’
Who oversees burial?
Several different types of chevra kadishas operate in Israel: (1) Chevra kadishas in large metropolitan cities: these deal with approximately 70% of Jewish deaths, and function independently of the religious councils; (2)Chevra kadishas, which operate as part of the religious councils throughout the country under the supervision of local rabbis; and (3) chevra kadishas, which are run by regional or yishuv councils. All chevra kadishas are operated by religious Jews, some paid employees and others volunteers, who assume responsibility for various difficult procedures associated with death. Each chevra kadisha has a certain number of plots, a funeral hall, biers, vehicles for moving the dead, and areas for storing, purifying, and immersing the dead. In certain localities only one chevra kadisha operates. In large cities (particularly Jerusalem), there are several chevra kadishas, which serve the needs of different communities and follow a range of customs. In these places, you can choose the chevra kadisha you prefer. The seventh of Adar, the day of Moshe Rabbeinu’s death, is observed as a day of introspection and personal accounting by the chevra kadishas. On this day, all the members of the various chevra kadishas assemble for a day of Torah study, prayer, and fasting, to atone for any inadvertent slights to the honor of any deceased or transgressions of one of the related halachot.
