When Death Is Uncertain

If someone drowned at sea or rumors spread that he was killed, but the body was never found, the law depends on his marital status. If he was unmarried, the seven days of mourning begin once people give up searching for him. However, if he was married, even if there is a very high likelihood that he died, as long as there is no clear testimony confirming the death, his wife and children may not observe mourning practices, deliver eulogies, or recite memorial prayers such as Kaddish. This is to avoid confusion that could eventually lead people to permit his wife to remarry improperly. However, if a woman drowned and the search for her body was abandoned, her husband and children may mourn and eulogize her.

Those Who Reject Torah

Shulchan Aruch rules that those who separate themselves from the Jewish community — people who cast off the yoke of Torah and mitzvot and no longer identify with Jewish religious life — are not mourned in the ordinary way after death. The text includes apostates and informers among those categories. The ruling cites statements from the Sages describing joy at the downfall of those who rebel against God.

Several stories are then brought involving rulings from Ovadia Yosef concerning Jews who married non-Jewish women and lived openly in violation of Torah law.

The text also quotes harsh statements regarding David Ben-Gurion, criticizing his role in secularizing many Jews in the early years of the State of Israel.

At the same time, the text notes that although Gershom ben Judah mourned for his son who had converted away from Judaism, this was understood as an expression of personal anguish that his son died without repentance, not as a precedent for halachic practice.

Cremation

If someone instructed that his body be cremated after death, Jewish law absolutely forbids complying with that request. The text explains that cremation contradicts fundamental Jewish beliefs regarding the dignity of the body, the soul’s continuation, and resurrection of the dead. It describes cremation as associated historically with wicked figures such as Titus.

Many major rabbinic authorities are cited as opposing cremation.

Donating One’s Body for Medical Research

Someone who donates his body after death for medical dissection is described as committing a severe prohibition, even if his intention was to advance medical science. The concern expressed is the desecration of the body after death. Nevertheless, if the person mistakenly believed he was performing an act of kindness to save lives and was not otherwise someone who rejected Judaism, efforts should still be made to ensure he receives Jewish burial.

The text also warns against agreeing to insurance policies that automatically permit postmortem autopsies, arguing that a person does not possess absolute ownership over his own body according to Jewish law.

Whom May Be Autopsied?

The text cites a statement from the Talmud regarding an “am ha’aretz” and explains, based on commentary from Yosef Chaim of Baghdad, that it refers to non-Jews or severely wicked individuals for whom postmortem dissection for medical study may be permitted. Examples are brought from the Talmud describing dissections performed on executed non-Jews in order to advance medical knowledge.

Ovadia Yosef adds that certain extreme anti-religious Jews who themselves rejected belief in resurrection and requested that their bodies be used for research need not necessarily be buried among other Jews.

Public Desecration of Shabbat

Maimonides writes that public desecration of Shabbat is extremely severe and comparable in some respects to idolatry.

However, despite the severity of the violation, modern public Shabbat desecrators are still mourned after death like other Jews. Several reasons are given:

• Many secular Jews today were raised without proper Torah education and are considered similar to “captured children” who never truly learned Judaism properly.

• Jewish tradition emphasizes drawing such Jews close rather than rejecting them.

• It is assumed that many people reflect and repent internally near the end of life.

• Preserving peace and avoiding hatred among Jews is itself an important Torah value.

Rabbi Avraham Yeshaya Karelitz and others viewed many secular Jews compassionately because of the spiritual environment in which they were raised.

Families mourning a relative who publicly desecrated Shabbat may continue praying, learning Torah, and conducting themselves normally even before burial, since the obligation of formal mourning in such cases is not entirely clear-cut according to halacha.