Hello,
Thank you for raising this important question.
As background to my response, I encourage you to read the chapter on burial in the new publication on Jewish Sustainability (available for download on the “Tzohar Ethics” website), as well as the article first published in the newspaper Makor Rishon.
It is a given that the issue of burial is not merely a personal matter, and as an individual, your ability to impact the broader challenge of land conservation in the Land of Israel is quite limited.
However, we can support initiatives for multi-level (dense) burial that adhere to halakha and advocate for continuous progress in this area. The more people understand the heavy cost of traditional field burials, the irresponsibility they entail, and the significant environmental damage they cause, and work toward changing this reality—the more we will act in a way that is good and upright in the eyes of God.
By doing so, we will uphold the sacredness of burial and halakhic obligations while simultaneously advancing the sanctity of the Land of Israel and promoting environmental responsibility.
All the best,
Rabbi Yuval Cherlow
Rabbi Cherlow is the Head of the Ethics Department at the Tzohar Rabbinical Organization.
