Upholding Chevra Kadisha Burial Customs and Permissibility of Cemetery Herbs

From: Rabbi Moshe Sofer

To: Rabbi Wolf Chayes

Description

The Chasam Sofer upholds three contested burial customs of the Chevra Kadisha: sprinkling wine and eggs on the deceased (grounded in Yerushalmi and kabbalistic sources), clenching the deceased's hands (the midrashic objection is dismissed as inapplicable), and selling herbs grown in the cemetery. On the third, he argues that cemetery herbs are analogous to gidulei hekdesh, which carry no Torah-level prohibition, aligning with the Rema's position that the cemetery herb prohibition is solely for kavod ha-meis and thus waivable.

Source: Shu"t Chasam Sofer YD §327

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