Visitation stones

The act of placing visitation stones is significant in Jewish bereavement practices. Small stones are placed by people who visit Jewish graves in an act of remembrance or respect for the deceased. The practice is a way of participating in the mitzvah of burial. It is customary to place the stone with the left hand.[1]

Stones on the grave of the physician and Zionist Hillel Yaffe

History

Marking a grave with stones was customary in Biblical times before the adoption of gravestones.[2][1] The oldest graves in the Old Cemetery in Safed are piles of rocks with a more prominent rock bearing an inscription.[1]

It is not customary in Judaism to leave flowers at a grave after visiting. It is believed to be more appropriate to give money to charity that could otherwise be spent on flowers.[3] In addition – cut flowers eventually die, but stones are enduring and do not die.[4]

Formerly the tradition might have been to insert notes into crevices in the grave marker. This tradition may be related to the practice of placing notes in the Western Wall in Jerusalem. Letters may have been formerly written to the deceased and held down by a stone, the stone would have been left after the paper blew away.[3]

The tradition has also been noted outside of Jewish mourning practices; Robert MacFarlane notes the presence of stones placed by mourners in the alcoves of the recesses of resting stones in ancient Ireland.[2]

Interpretation

Various explanations have been given for the origin of the practice[1]

  • Stone is frequently used in the torah as a metaphor for God in Judaism
  • To ensure that kohanim should not be affected by corpse impurity by inadvertently coming into close proximity with a grave
  • To ensure that the mitzvah is maintained by marking the grave with rocks
  • To show respect and let others know that the grave has been recently visited.[5]
  • It happens that the Hebrew word for pebble is "tz'ror" but the word also means "bond" in Hebrew.[6]

See also

References
  1. "Placing a Stone". Shiva.com. Archived from the original on 21 April 2020. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
  2. Julie Bates (19 April 2017). Beckett's Art of Salvage. Cambridge University Press. p. 215. ISBN 978-1-107-16704-9. Archived from the original on 27 February 2022. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
  3. Barbara Binder Kadden; Bruce Kadden (1997). Teaching Jewish Life Cycle: Traditions and Activities. Behrman House, Inc. p. 107. ISBN 978-0-86705-040-0. Archived from the original on 27 February 2022. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
  4. Klam, Julie (10 August 2021). The almost legendary Morris sisters : a true story of family fiction. New York: Riverhead Books. p. 93. ISBN 978-0735216426. Archived from the original on 27 February 2022. Retrieved 7 December 2021.
  5. Shurpin, Yehuda. "Why Do Jews Put Pebbles on Tombstones?". chabad. Chabad-Lubavitch Media Center. Archived from the original on 7 December 2021. Retrieved 7 December 2021.
  6. "Stones On Jewish Monuments- A Symbolic Praxis (Guest post by Morgan and Basil)". Online Academic Community. Elegant Themes. Archived from the original on 7 December 2021. Retrieved 7 December 2021.
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