Q. I have a relative who is dying. Unfortunately, he is married to a gentile. We mentioned to him recently that he never wrote in his will that upon his death he should be buried in a Jewish cemetery. He said that he wants to be buried next to his wife. He claims that there is no halacha that he must be buried in a Jewish cemetery. Is this true?

A. The biblical obligation to bury the dead is derived from (Devarim 21: 23) “You shall bury him on that day” (Sanhedrin 46b, Rambam – H. Avel 4: 4, Shulchan Aruch Y.D. 362: 2.) The also biblical obligation to be buried in a Jewish cemetery is a Halacha L’Moshe M’Sinai, based on Sanhedrin (47a,) in regards to the different sections provided for burial of the sentenced to a death penalty (Igrois Moshe Y.D. 5: 56, and others.)

Igrois Moishe (ibid.) addresses a question of priority. When the only way to bring the remains of a dear one to Kever Yisroel is by exhuming and cremating the deceased corpse (as was the requirement in the Soviet Union, where no Jewish graveyards were allowed) and then exporting only the ashes to be reburied in a overseas Jewish cemetery. Which takes precedence, Kever Yisroel or avoiding cremation. He rules that the burial of the corpse is most essential.

Poskim also amply address the extent of the great obligation and mitzvah of searching for the remains and even part of corpses to be brought to Kever Yisroel after the Holocaust. (M’emek Habocho 8 and 11, Veherim Haconen 65, Or Hamizrach p.72)

Rabbi A. Bartfeld as revised by Horav Shlomo Miller Shlit”a