22 Aug WALKING ON GRAVES

Graveside funerals, or
visits, often generate
crowds around a
grave, forcing people
to search for space
to stand. Are you
allowed to step on
someone else’s grave
for a service or in order to get to the right
place in the cemetery?
I. Magical Cure
The Gemara (Sanhedrin 47b) says that
people used to take dirt from Rav’s grave
to use as a cure for a one-day fever.
Some observers told Shmuel about this
practice and he said that it is permissible
because they are taking from permanent
dirt. Rav Ya’akov Ben Asher (14th cen.,
Spain; Tur, Yoreh De’ah 364) quotes Rav
Yeshayah who explains that “permanent
dirt” is undisturbed. Dirt that is removed
from the ground and then used to fill in
the grave is not permanent dirt. Therefore,
we are forbidden to derive benefit from
the dirt used to cover the coffin, what
we usually call the grave. Tur disagrees,
and says that his father Rabbenu Asher
(Rosh) disagrees as well. We are allowed
to derive benefit from any dirt that is

intended to remain there permanently,
including what we commonly call the
grave.
Rav Yosef Karo (16th cen., Israel;
Shulchan Aruch, Yoreh De’ah 364:1)
follows the lenient view of Rosh and
Tur. Rema (16th cen., Poland; Glosses,
ad loc.) follows the strict view of Rav
Yeshayah. According to Rema, we would
not be allowed to derive any benefit from
a grave. Does this mean that we cannot
stand or walk on top of it?
II. Briefly Standing
The Gemara (Bava Basra 101a) tries to
understand the Mishnah’s description of
graves inside a cave, in which people are
buried in holes dug into the walls of a
cave. One suggestion is that two graves
are dug underneath the area near the
entrance to the cave. The Gemara objects
that then people will stand on graves.
Rashbam (ad loc., s.v. ha) writes that
when someone is buried in other graves,
people will come and stand on the graves
for a long time. However, Rashbam says
explicitly, there is no concern if people
stand on a grave momentarily while
carrying someone to be buried.

Rav David Ha-Levi (17th cen., Poland;
Taz, Yoreh De’ah 364:1) quotes Rav
Yisrael of Krems (15th cen., Austria,
Hagahos Asheri, Mo’ed Katan 3:79)
as saying that you may not walk on top
of a grave. But he qualifies this with
Rashbam’s view that we may walk on a
grave briefly. Rav Avraham Eisenstadt
(19th cen., Lithuania; Pischei Teshuvah,
Yoreh De’ah 364:2) quotes Yad Eliyahu
who argues that walking on top of a
grave briefly does not constitute deriving
benefit from the grave. The existence
of the grave does not make your walk
any easier. However, sitting on a grave
constitutes deriving benefit, which is
forbidden.
Rav Shlomo Zalman Braun (20th cen.,

America; She’arim Metzuyanim Ba-
Halachah, Bava Basra 101a s.v. i) quotes

Rav Nesanel Weil (18th cen., Germany;
Korban Nesanel, Ta’anis, ch. 2 22:3) who
disagrees with Taz and says that there
is no proof from the Rashbam in Bava
Basra. The Gemara is discussing graves
within a cave. People who stand on a
grave there are standing on dirt that was
never disturbed, which everyone agrees
is permissible. The question is about
graves with dirt that was refilled.
III. Replanting
Rav Naftali Tzvi Yehudah Berlin
(Netziv, 19th cen., Lithuania; Meishiv
Davar, vol. 2, Aveilus (end of volume),
no. 5) quotes a debate between Rashi
and Tosafos in Avodah Zarah (45b).
The Mishnah (45a) says that the ground
(e.g. a mountain) cannot be forbidden
as an idol even if people worship the
ground. The Mishnah says that a tree
used as an idol (asheirah) is different
because it is planted by human hands.
The Gemara (45b) adds that there is
a debate about whether a tree that is
planted for permissible purposes and
then worshipped becomes forbidden
as an idol. Rashi (ad loc., s.v. ilan)
says that the debate is about a tree
that is planted from a seed because
that is created in part by human hands.
But taking a sapling from one place
and planting it in the ground is not
really planting it. Tosafos (ad loc.,
s.v. ve-hacha) disagrees and considers
replanting a tree the same as planting
it for the first time.
Netziv seems to understand Rashi as
saying that a replanted tree is not fully
connected to the ground because it did
not originate there. Therefore, such a
tree can become forbidden as an idol.
Tosafos believe that a replanted tree is

as connected to that ground as if it was
planted there for the first time. Shulchan
Aruch (Yoreh De’ah 145:1) follows
Tosafos. Netziv argues that dirt that was
dug up and then refilled is like a tree
that was dug up and replanted. Tosafos
(Sanhedrin 46b s.v. telishah) could be
read as supporting this. Therefore, since
we follow Tosafos, dirt that is used
to refill a grave is like unmoved dirt
and therefore we may receive benefit
by standing on a grave. While Rema
disagrees with this conclusion, Netziv
argues that he only means this as a proper
stringency, a chumra, but for any mitzvah
need we may rely on the lenient view and
walk on, or even stand on, a grave.
Rav Avraham Eisenstadt (Pischei
Teshuvah, ibid.) further quotes Yad
Eliyahu as saying that while he believes
that there is no prohibition of receiving
benefit from a grave, there is still a
concern for the deceased’s honor. You
may not step on a grave because that
disgraces the person buried there.
However, if there is no other choice,
then you may do so. In his conclusion,
even though not in his reasoning, he
effectively agrees with Netziv. Similarly,
Rav Nesanel Weil (Korban Nesanel,
ibid.) reaches the same conclusion but
for a different reason. He believes that
it is forbidden to receive benefit from a
grave. However, when you have no other
option but to walk on a grave, you are not
considered as benefiting from it.