By the Grace of G-d 18th of Sivan, 5723 Brooklyn, N.Y.

Greeting and Blessing:

I received your letter in which you invite my comments on the question of cremation.

The position of our Jewish religion on this question is well known. It is resolutely and unequivocally opposed to cremation, which it abhors. So much so that it is considered to have a nuance of paganism. The negative Jewish view on cremation cannot be overemphasized. Indeed, notwithstanding the sanctity with which Jews observe yartzeit, Yizkor, Kaddish, etc. in memory of the departed and for the gratification of their souls, Jewish Law prohibits this observance in the case of a person who has chosen to be cremated and indeed, there were times when even the ashes were not permitted to be interred in a Jewish cemetery.

Needless to say, the above refers only to those who voluntarily elected to be cremated after death; it certainly does not apply to those who have died Al Kiddush HaShem, our sacred Martyrs, whose holiness is unsurpassed.

The bibliography on the subject is quite extensive, but the consensus is that any Jew who has any regard for the Torah and mitzvot must absolutely reject cremation.

Incidentally, although the following is not directly related, it does have a bearing on the subject. In the view of our Jewish religion, a man’s body is not his private possession to do with it as he wishes. The Old Rebbe of Chabad, whose 150th Yartzeit Anniversary we are observing this year, repeated this position which is based on the Mishna, which declares that “Eyn I’adam reshus al gufo klall” - “No person has any prerogative whatever on his body.”¹ Maimonides declares that the human body is “Kinyon (Hakodosh baruch Hu) Hkb’h” “G-d’s property.”²

I was pleased to read at the conclusion of your letter that your general frame of mind is a much happier one and may G-d grant that it continue to go from strength to strength and from better to better.

With blessing,