Ask the Rabbi
- Family and Society
- Death and Mourning
- Burial and the Cemetery
Question
If I do a Taharah have I also fulfilled the Mitzvoh of Halvayat Hamet, even if after the Taharah I don’t go to the gravesite or even wait for the actual Levayah to begin?
Answer
The mitzvah of levaya is to accompany the deceased 4 amot on his way to the burial place. Tahara is a great mitzvah but not the mitzvah of levaya.
If the leveya did not begin and you need to leave you don’t need to wait.
burial of non-members
Rabbi Chaim Tabasky | 11 Tevet 5767
Onein saying Kaddish
Rabbi David Sperling | Tishrei 8, 5773
Saying prayers at the grave
Rabbi Jonathan Blass | 21 Shevat 5763
