I WAS LOOKING AT THE ADs is local paper of Jewish interest.
One caught my eye.
Air conditioned mausoleum?
Do the dead really NEED air conditioning?
Two thoughts.
- One: Perhaps it is for visitors’ comfort.
Two: Perhaps it is to vent any oders that may come from improperly sealed caskets and vaults.
Knowing there must be a better reason, I did the natural thing: I went online and searched for answer.
The first URL I found went beyond air conditioning.
At http://tinyurl.com/y8qlz5dc , I found a headline that read:This Narco Cemetery Has Graves With Air Conditioning and Cable TV
According to the article, Near the entrance to the cemetery are the graves for the poorer folks of the city—simple slabs of rock on the grass. That's where the third of people in this city who live underneath the line of poverty might end up, if they are lucky. But the deeper you go into the cemetery, the more the graves look like mini-condominiums, replete with air conditioning, cable and running water.
The Valley View Mausoleum of Staten Island NY is "fully climate controlled and visitors won't have to worry about the elements," Ms. Tina Cerami, cemetery office manager, said, adding that benches in general areas will be provided for the comfort of visitors.
The first fully indoor mausoleum at the 113-acre cemetery is designed to be comfortable and inviting for family members who visit. The building with an interior of mostly Italian marble and granite features air conditioning, heating and a security system, Ms. Cerami said.<
It's not pretty, but article titled How to Avoid Being an Exploding Corpse After You Die (http://tinyurl.com/ydfcso65) discusses mausoleums and exploding bodies. Air conditioning will not prevent this, although the article suggests an answer.
It also indirectly makes a case for burial in shroud or a simple wooden casket.
Is it kosher?
I am not a rabbi and I do not play one on tv. Consult a respected local rabbi for a definitive answer.
According to the Conservative Rabbinical Assembly (http://tinyurl.com/ydg7taee ), Although there does not seem to be any impediment in Jewish law to using a mausoleum for burial, it should not be encouraged. Indeed, it should be actively discouraged since it is an obvious change from methods universally accepted today and its general publicized approval may create confusion. While it should be discouraged, we must recognize that it is permitted and that a rabbi may therefore officiate at an interment a mausoleum.
Although a mausoleum is halakhically permissible, certain restrictions applicable to a cemetery should be applied to the mausoleum. The mausoleum should be used exclusively for those of the Jewish faith. If a "non-sectarian" mausoleum is used, definite and easily recognizable demarcations should be imposed, such as its own central hall and entrance, clearly indicating its Jewish nature.
On the other hand, Chabad (http://tinyurl.com/yc8pwzqe )is unequivocal: To have the deceased buried above the ground, not surrounded by earth within the mausoleum, is unquestionably prohibited. The Bible repeats its injunction: kavor tikberenu, "bury thou shalt surely bury," to emphasize that it is not a legal burial if the casket is left above the earth.
Jewish law is unequivocal in establishing absolutely, and uncompromisingly, that the dead must be buried in the earth. Man's body returns to the earth as it was. The soul rises to God, but the physical shelter, the chemical elements that clothed the soul, sink into the vast reservoir of nature. God's words to Adam are, "For dust thou are and unto dust shalt thou return." Later, the Bible crystallizes God's words into positive law, ki kavor tikberenu, "Thou shalt surely bury him" (Deuteronomy 21:23).
The Reform movement, according to Mausoleums.com (http://tinyurl.com/ydcj8aho) allows above-ground interment in a Jewish mausoleum based on precedents from the Bible and historic sites such as the Cave of the Patriarchs, Rachel’s Tomb, Tomb of Daniel, Tomb of Absalom, Montefiore Synagogue, Ezra’s Tomb, and Sassoon Mausoleum.
The Guide to Jewish Cemetery (http://tinyurl.com/y9wmby2q) asks: Are Mausoleums Kosher For Jewish Burial? and then answers its own question stating: A mausoleum may be defined as a magnificent tomb. It should be noted that Abraham was buried in one. Talmudic law is quite specific about what constitutes a kosher mausoleum: Open burial above ground is prohibited as it is disrespectful to the body (for similar reasons Jews do not have a wake). If the structure is to stand above ground level, the coffin must be filled with soil with a mausoleum enclosing the grave. The requirement is to bury the body in earth, either directly or indirectly. In the case of an ohel, the structure is usually erected after burial and is, therefore, technically not a mausoleum. Above-ground burial is sometimes mandatory, such as in New Orleans which has a high water table.
PLAGIARISM is the act of appropriating the literary composition of another, or parts or passages of his writings, or the ideas or language of the same, and passing them off as the product of one’s own mind/U>.
