How important is it to be buried in a Jewish cemetery versus a secular or other place of burial?

In Judaism burial is an inalienable right and rite that cannot be denied even the worst criminal. Burial is predicated on the verse in the Torah (Genesis 3:19) that requires returning to earth what was originally created from the earth. But the laws regarding burial were legislated by the rabbis. From what we may gather from a variety of sources is that, according to the rabbis, the same differences between Jews and non-Jews we uphold in life continue even after death. Thus, while we have an obligation to look after the burial of non-Jews if there is no one else to look after the burial (Gittin 61a), we do not bury them together with Jews (RaShI ad. loc. and RaShBA). 

 

Aside from some exceptions, like the burial of fallen Jewish soldiers among their non-Jewish comrades, the attitude remains that Jews and non-Jews are buried separately.

The standards for burial are derived from the examples set by our patriarchs in the book of Genesis. When Abraham buried Sarah (Genesis 23) he took care to assure that her burial place would be a site dedicated that would remain accessible to their family for generations to come. Indeed, the Cave of Machpelah serves as the burial site for Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebecca, Jacob and Leah. Only Rahel, who died on the road, is not buried in the family plot. In the next generation, Joseph asks that his bones be disinterred and brought from Egypt during the Exodus so he too might be buried at Machpelah. 

 

One’s first obligation is to see to the timely burial of those who have died (Deuteronomy 21). Early Talmudic accounts indicate that the dead were buried b’tokh shelo, on their own property, indicating the importance of having a burial plot that was owned by the individual or the family. These sites may or many not have been formal “Jewish” cemeteries. 

 

The custom of maintaining a separate Jewish cemetery is so strong that in many new communities the cemetery is established and consecrated even before a synagogue is chartered. Nonetheless there are times when a separate Jewish cemetery is not available. In those cases the practice is to find some way to designate that plot as a Jewish grave. There are various ways to mark the grave site, including: a surrounding wall, planting shrubbery around the site, or Hebrew inscriptions on the tombstone. There is a ritual to designate this site as consecrated earth which would create a small Jewish burial site in a larger general cemetery; this would be in keeping with traditional practice. 

 

In sum, there is a strong and abiding preference for burial to take place in ground consecrated for Jewish burial. If, however, the choice is made for burial in a general cemetery there is nothing to preclude a rabbi from officiating at the service.