Q&A from the Bais HaVaad Halacha Hotline

Tread Carefully

December 5, 2024

Q When visiting a cemetery, may one stand on or walk over a kever? May one lean on a gravestone or place a siddur or a water bottle on it?

A The Gemara (Sanhedrin 47b) teaches that a meis and items associated with a meis (like a casket and burial shrouds) are asur behana’ah. Some poskim include both the ground above a grave and the gravestone in this category, as they serve the meis (Or Zarua cited by Rama Y.D. 364:1). But others argue that these items do not qualify as accessories of the meis (Rosh cited ibid.).

The Bais Yosef adopts the lenient view, while the Taz quotes the Maharshal, who rules stringently. Nonetheless, the Yad Eliyahu (cited by Pis’chei Teshuvah ibid. 2) rules that walking over a kever is permitted according to all, as the walker doesn’t derive benefit from the presence of a grave underfoot. But one may not make personal use of the stone by leaning on it or placing something atop it.

The Aruch Hashulchan (ibid. 5) says that the dispute only concerns horizontal matzeivos, common in Eretz Yisrael today, which serve as a cover for the grave. But the vertical ones common in American and European cemeteries may be used according to all, because they serve only as markers.

The Yad Eliyahu notes that even when the issur hana’ah does not apply, one must take care to avoid bizayon hameis (degradation of the deceased), so a kever should not be stood upon unless it is necessary in order to fulfill a mitzvah. Stepping briefly over a grave is permitted (Taz ibid.) if done respectfully (Aruch Hashulchan ibid. 11).

A vertical matzeivah as well, although mutar behana’ah, may only be used in a respectful manner (Aruch Hashulchan). Leaning on it or using it to hold a water bottle should be avoided. But using it as a shtender for a siddur is permitted, as this is not considered bizayon hameis.