Shavuot 5773 Is there Rest for the Wicked?

Burying the Infamous

and Nefarious Rabbi Shaanan Gelman
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20 And Elisha died, and they buried him. Now the bands
of the Moabites used to invade the land at the coming in
of the year. 21 And it came to pass, as they were burying
a man, that, behold, they spied a band; and they cast the
man into the sepulchre of Elisha; and as soon as the man
touched the bones of Elisha, he revived, and stood up on
his feet. {P}

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AND THEY DID NOT BURY HIM [THE EXECUTED

PERSON] IN HIS ANCESTRAL TOMB, BUT TWO BURIAL
PLACES WERE PREPARED BY THE BETH DIN, ONE FOR
THOSE WHO WERE DECAPITATED OR STRANGLED,
AND THE OTHER FOR THOSE WHO WERE STONED OR

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Shavuot 5773 Is there Rest for the Wicked? Burying the Infamous
and Nefarious Rabbi Shaanan Gelman
BURNED.
WHEN THE FLESH WAS COMPLETELY DECOMPOSED,
THE BONES WERE GATHERED AND BURIED IN THEIR
PROPER PLACE.42 THE RELATIVES THEN43 CAME AND
GREETED THE JUDGES AND WITNESSES, AS IF TO SAY,
WE HAVE NO [ILL FEELINGS] AGAINST YOU IN OUR
HEARTS, FOR YE GAVE A TRUE JUDGMENT.

, ;

AND THEY DID NOT BURY HIM etc. And why such
severity?16 Because a wicked man may not be buried
beside a righteous one. For R. Aha b. Hanina said:
Whence is it inferred that a wicked man may not be
buried beside a righteous one? From the verse, And it
came to pass as they were burying a man that behold
they spied a band and they cast the man into the
sepulchre of Elishah, and as soon as the man touched the
bones of Elishah, he revived and stood up on his feet.

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In the coming of the year in the return of the year,

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when the ground was still filled with grass and there

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is ample food for the animals, that is the usual time

for soldiers to head out.

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This is yet another miracle which had been brought

about by Elisha after his death, that the soldiers of

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Moav wouldnt come until the passage of an entire

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year, meaning that another year had passed since

the burial of Elisha.
According to the Malbim we learn out from Elisha that an

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evil person may not be buried next to a righteous person

even after 12 months have passed, but according to Rashi
from where does the Mishna derive this principle (that
we may never bury a Rasha next to a Tzaddik) if the
incident with Elishas grave took place in the first year of
Elishas death?
It is forbidden to bury an evil man next to a pious man as

we see that Elisha brought an evil man back to life so that

he shouldnt be buried by his side, as it says (Psalms

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125:3) For the rod of wickedness shall not rest upon the
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Shavuot 5773 Is there Rest for the Wicked? Burying the Infamous
and Nefarious Rabbi Shaanan Gelman
lot of the righteous, woe unto the evildoer woe unto his

neighbor. But we do bury an evildoer next to an evildoer

and a pious man next to another pious man.

Halacha 8
Similarly, a priest does not become impure for any of
those individuals for whom we do not mourn as stated
above: e.g., those executed by the court, those who deviate
from the ways of the community, stillborn infants, and
those who commit suicide. Until when does the mitzvah to
become impure apply? Until the grave is covered. Once
the grave is covered, however, the graves of one's close
relatives are like those of any other corpse. If a priest
becomes impure for their sake, he should be punished by
lashes.

The Rambam deletes this principle that one may not bury
an evildoer next to a pious man, on the contrary, he
implies (Chapter 2, Hilchot Evel) by a person executed by
the Government, that even if a Jewish King executed him
based upon the Torah law, as is clear by Yoav who was
executed by Shlomo Hamelech in accordance with the
law, yet he was nonetheless buried in the graveyard of his
forefathers. It seems that he (Rambam) believed that the
law is only applicable by those executed by the Beit Din.
And we may provide slight support for this as we see that
within the various types of capital punishments
administered by the court, we refrain from burying
someone who was stoned to death alongside someone who
was burnt. Furthermore, we find that there are certain
individuals who may have been executed though they
have repented completely for their sin, such as the
desecration of Shabbat, yet they are still buried next to
those executed by the Beit Din, even though he is a
righteous individual now without doubt, nonetheless this
is the command from the verse of the Torah and it has
nothing to do with the principle of we do not bury an
evildoer next to a pious man. And that which the Talmud
cites from he revived, and stood up on his feet we may
not learn it from there since firstly, Elisha was different
since he was a great man, and furthermore that was a
unique situation in which there were two bodies in one
crypt, which would not even be permitted if they were
both righteous individuals, as we never bury in such a
fashion.

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Shavuot 5773 Is there Rest for the Wicked? Burying the Infamous
and Nefarious Rabbi Shaanan Gelman
We see that the man was not buried next to Elisha, rather
he was thrown into the grave out of fear of the oncoming
army, perhaps as well they were afraid afterwards to
remove the man from Elishas grave, nonetheless this was
very difficult to Elisha because his bones were touching
his actual grave. And after this miracle another miracle
took place and the man became reanimated and began to
walk on his legs. Based upon this it makes sense that
which we derive in the Gemara this law from Elisha
because he was a great man for whom miracles occurred,
and that is a confirmation that an evildoer may not be
placed next to a righteous person, even absent of proper
burial, and even in a case of doubt. And we also derive
from here that if an evil man was buried next to a
righteous person we should remove him from the grave.

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Just as we do not bury an evil person next to a tzaddik we

also do not bury a rasha chamor next to a rasha kal.
And I say, in my heart, Isaac the author of this volume,
just as we do not bury an evildoer of a lesser level by an
evil doer of a more serious level, we do not bury a
righteous man next to a chassid, in that a zaddik is one
who fulfilled the entire Torah properly, doing that which
was required, and a Chassid is one who sanctified himself
even in the areas which were permissible to him
It also seems from there that we do bury a Baal Teshuva
next to a person who was righteous from the beginning.

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Therefore I, Yitzchak the author, say in my heart, that it is

forbidden to engage in the burial of a man who is known
to be evil and did not repent, but a middle of the road
individual who is known not to be an evil man, it is a
mitzvah to be engaged with him and forbidden to leave his
body unattended.
And it is written further in the Or Zarua that it is forbidden
to engage in the burial of a man who is known to be evil
and did not repent, but a middle of the road individual
who is known not to be an evil man, it is a mitzvah to be
engaged with his burial. And I wonder, that which we do
not bury an evildoer next to a pious man it would seem
that we do, however, engage in his burial but we do not
bury him next to a pious manand it is possible to
distinguish between burial alone and being involved in
general with the burial, for we certainly bury him but we
do not go out of the way to do all the things normally done
with the burial, such as preparing shrouds and other
services rendered by others who are deceased, rather we
merely place him in the grave, without shrouds

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Shavuot 5773 Is there Rest for the Wicked? Burying the Infamous
and Nefarious Rabbi Shaanan Gelman
A certain evil man was buried amongst those who were
executed, and he came in a dream to an important
individual asking to be exhumed since his proximity to the
executed ones was hard on them.

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16

From the Sefer Chassidim it seems that executed

individuals are buried alone since they are similar to those
executed by a Beit Din. The Chatam Sofer believes that
based upon the Sefer Chassidim we bury executed ones
amongst the other dead, and only a rasha is not placed
amongst them.

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According to the Chatam Sofer we should bury one who is

executed by the Gentiles in the graveyard with his
ancestors with all others who have died, but he contradicts
a ruling he made elsewhere (Even Haezer) in which he
states that such a man is buried alone. And it seems from
the responsa mentioned above that this was the custom to
bury those executed by the Gentiles separate from
everyone else and not amongst other dead since the law of
the four capital deaths of the Jewish court is still
applicable, and thus he is considered like those executed
by a Beit Din and is not to be buried with other s.

...

But, do not confuse those who were killed by a just

government with those killed by an evil government with
corrupt laws, or who ruled erroneously, as they would be
considered as individuals who achieved full atonement.

Rabbi Dr. Ari Zivotofsky

http://www.ou.org/torah/article/tzarich_iyun_jews_with_tattoos#.UZJHG34o75p

only in a Jewish cemetery does one find separate burial sections for societies of like-minded individuals. Indeed, a
halachically conscious person should be alert to this issue when purchasing a burial plot, and should try to purchase
one with a group that is particular about whom they accept. Burial societies were created specifically for this
purpose. Membership in such a society is different than membership in, for example, a shul, which does not
necessarily guarantee the religious observance of its members.

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Shavuot 5773 Is there Rest for the Wicked? Burying the Infamous
and Nefarious Rabbi Shaanan Gelman
Cremation, Tattoos and Other Taboos
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and Nefarious Rabbi Shaanan Gelman
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and Nefarious Rabbi Shaanan Gelman
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Shavuot 5773 Is there Rest for the Wicked? Burying the Infamous
and Nefarious Rabbi Shaanan Gelman
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Rabbi Dr. Ari Zivotofsky , ibid

Another related misconception is that suicides are buried outside of the cemetery. In fact, they are not
buried outside of a Jewish cemetery, although they are buried at a distance from the other deceased,
sometimes in a separate section of the cemetery (Gilyon Maharsha, Yoreh Deah 345; Sidney Goldstein,
Suicide in Rabbinic Literature [New Jersey, 1989], 60-61). In other cultures, such as the Greek and
Roman cultures, suicides were excluded from cemeteries. However, there is no Talmudic source for
excluding suicides from being buried in a Jewish cemetery, and this practice was discouraged by halachic
authorities (see Tzitz Eliezer 10:41 and Benjamin Gesundheit, Halakhic and Moral Analysis of Masekhet
Semahot, Tradition 35:3 [2001]: 40 and sources on 48)

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