The last mitzva that is fulfilled with a person’s body is his burial, as it is a mitzva to bury the dead. In the book of Genesis, it is written: “By the sweat of your brow shall you eat bread, until you return to the ground; for from it were you taken; for you are dust, and to dust shall you return” (3:19). There is a moral and symbolic aspect to this mitzva: A person completes his role in this world and returns to the point from which everything began, which is dust.

The Talmud (Sanhedrin 32b) adds two reasons for burials:

(1) burial provides atonement for the deceased;

(2) burial honors the family of the deceased, who took care to provide a proper grave for him.

Some have the custom of buying a burial plot for themselves. There are both practical and conceptual reasons for this custom.

From a practical perspective: A person may want to be buried in a specific cemetery, or even in a specific plot in a cemetery, in order to be buried close to loved ones. Even in Israel, where each person is entitled to a burial free of charge in his local cemetery, one may wish to be buried outside his hometown. In such a case, he must purchase his chosen burial plot with his own money.

From a halakhic perspective it is preferable for a person to be buried in a grave that belongs to him. Accordingly, it is desirable to purchase a burial plot rather than to receive it.

Another rationale for buying a burial plot during one’s lifetime is that this acquisition is considered to be a favorable omen, a segula, for longevity.

The Jewish burial practiced for generations involved entombing the body in the ground, without a casket, and this is indeed the general practice in Israel today. Only in certain cases, such as military funerals, are caskets used. Outside of Israel, however, it is common to bury the body in a casket.

Due to the ever-growing shortage of burial space in Israel, some cemeteries have begun burying people in multi-tiered burial structures. Burial societies refer to this method as “the burial of the Sanhedrin,” because the graves of the Sanhedrin and similar sites that have been discovered in Jerusalem and elsewhere in the country are not underground, but rather within crypts hewn into the bedrock.

Is the multi-tiered formation a desirable form of burial? The halakhic discussion concerning this issue focuses on the question of whether this is considered burial in the ground. On the one hand, the entire structure is connected to the ground. On the other hand, the deceased is interred above ground level. If one is unsure as to how to proceed, it is recommended to consult a rabbi.

Nowadays, some cemeteries offer other forms of burial, such as the burial of both spouses in one grave in the ground, one above the other, separated by a layer of earth. Here too, if one is uncertain, he should consult a rabbi.