Ahead of the return of the bodies of the four slain hostages on Thursday, and four more next week, much focus has been on where and how they will be identified.
But aside from the forensics, there has been little discussion of the Jewish questions raised about the slain hostage bodies being returned, some of whom may have been killed a long time ago.
Here we explore the answers to key questions, such as whether autopsies are permitted under Jewish law, when to sit the shiva mourning period and how to calculate a yahrzeit if the date of death is unknown and whether a body can be buried if it is not complete.
Burying the returning hostages
Jewish burial is a mitzvah. It is considered one of the highest commandments because it is done without the expectation of repayment.
The mitzvah is based mostly on the words of Deuteronomy [Devarim] 21:23, "ki kavor tikberenu," which means "you shall surely bury him, on that day."
Typically, it is forbidden to leave the dead person un-buried overnight unless it is unavoidable, for example if relatives need time to travel to the funeral, or if the person dies at night, in which case they may be buried the following day. Otherwise, the body should be buried on the day of death.
But what happens if the person did not die within the last day, and instead - as may be the case for some of the slain hostages - died a long time ago?
The Jerusalem Post spoke to Rabbi Seth Farber, the director of ITIM (the Jewish Life Advocacy Center), who said that the bodies can "absolutely" receive a Jewish burial and be interred in a Jewish cemetery.
"Halachically, we bury people out of “respect for the deceased [kevod hamet]," he said.
While there is a prohibition on delaying the burial of a corpse, there are exceptions under mitigating circumstances, and the processes can begin when the body is returned.
The National Institute of Forensic Medicine revealed on Wednesday that it will receive the slain hostages directly from the border, where they will be examined to achieve identification and allow for proper burial.
The identification itself presents a Halachic challenge. In Jewish law, it is forbidden to perform an autopsy on a Jewish body due to the prohibition on desecrating a corpse and the prohibition on delaying burial.
However, Rabbi Farber told the Post that while autopsies are "generally forbidden" if it serves a purpose, "such as identifying a moment of death that might bring us closer to identifying the perpetrators (and thus saving lives by bringing the murderers to justice), then it is allowed."
The Gemara, in relation to Leviticus, says that Jews are permitted to violate the Torah in cases of pikuach nefesh, or where violating Torah means saving someone's life.
Therefore, some interpret this as meaning that autopsies are permissible in cases where the information provided from it might save anther's life.
If the remains are not complete
According to Jewish law, Jews should be buried as they were born, in other words, with all limbs and organs. This extends as far as - in some communities - the burial of organs that were removed for medical purposes. The body should therefore be complete when buried.
So what happens if it is impossible to retrieve the body in its entirety?
Rabbi Farber told the Post that it is permissible to bury body parts if the entire body cannot be accessed.
He added that if, at a later date, more of the body is found, the parts can be interred in the same grave.
"This is what was done with previous victims whose full remains were retrieved later," he said.
Nevertheless, Rabbi Farber added that from a bureaucratic perspective, burying a partial corpse is a challenge, since the remains often cannot get issued a burial license in Israel.
There is actually significant discussion among Halachic scholars about how much of the body there needs to be for it to be sufficient for burial. Some scholars say the mitzvah applies to the head and majority of the body. Whereas others claim the mitzvah applies even to a kezayis of the deceased [unit of volume equal to the size of a Talmudic era Israeli olive].
Burial with or without a coffin?
Jews are typically buried without a coffin, either wrapped in a shroud or in a tallit, although the latter is not customary in Israel.
However, Israeli soldiers are always buried in coffins to obscure their body from the public, which is said to be due to the violent deaths soldiers suffer.
Rabbi Farber said, "Anyone killed in Gaza or on October 7th is considered having been murdered 'al kiddush Hashem.' This translates literally as 'sanctification of God's name.'
"In general, we do a taharah ceremony in order to cleanse the body, and we bury it in the ground because of the verse וכפר אדמתו עמו, which means that the land provides kapara or forgiveness."
However, he added that anyone murdered because they were a Jew is – in traditional rabbinic thought – automatically “cleansed” of sin and forgiven. As the late Rabbi Jonathan Sacks wrote in his book, 'A Judaism Engaged with the World,' Jews who died because of their faith are said to have died al kiddush Hashem.
Thus, by this line of thought, "there is no need to bury directly in the ground and no need for a Tahara," Rabbi Farber continued.
Sitting Shiva
Shiva is a seven-day mourning period in Judaism immediately following the burial of the deceased. It is honored by first-degree relatives, who "sit shiva," a process that involves several customs.
This, however, raises questions of how the process of shiva works if the date of death is unknown or if it is confirmed to have happened a while previously.
According to Rabbi Farber, some of the hostage families began shiva when the IDF declared them dead in captivity. In these cases, it is customary for the family to sit one day of shiva on the day of the burial itself.
Rabbi Farmer added that if the family has not yet sat shiva, it becomes more complicated, but "generally, people will sit shiva now."
This is based on Yoreh Deah 375:7, which asks, "For one who drowned in waters that have an end, or for one regarding whom a rumor circulated that robbers have murdered him, or for one whom a beast dragged away, from what time does one count [the days of mourning]?
The answer to this question is in multiple parts.
If the search for a missing person has been declared futile, that is the time to begin shiva.
If limbs of the body have been found, one only begins shiva if the head or a larger portion of the body is found.
The passage then states that if the body is later found after they had given up hope of [recovering] it, the family is not required to observe mourning rites again.
Another linked question is how to calculate a yahrzeit if the date of death is unknown.
Rabbi Farber said this is an issue that has arisen in earlier wars and particularly in the Holocaust.
First, he said we need to wait to find out if we can determine when they were killed; for example, some of the slain hostages were probably killed on October 7.
"If we have no way of knowing, then there are debates as to when to commemorate," Rabbi Farber added. "Many Israelis choose Yom Hazikaron, although I imagine that many of these families will choose October 7th."
Rabbi Farber noted that his organization - ITIM - was involved in halachic decisions related to the war, starting on October 8.
ITIM was partially responsible for the rabbinate opening up three temporary burial sites for victims from the south (who since have been re-interred in Kfar Aza).
ITIM also helped many families with their burial arrangements following the first days after the massacre, and has been involved in helping families from the North to receive a dispensation to bury their loved ones (who died while they were not living in the North) in burial plots around Israel for free.
Where does the mitzvah of burying the dead come from?
The Torah asserts that humans were created in the image of God and, therefore, states that it is very important to treat corpses and their final resting spots with dignity (kavod hamet).
The Gemara, in Sanhedrin (46b), states that burying a person is a mitzvah and serves as a kappara, or atonement, for the person.
The Rambam writes in the Mishnah Torah that "Attending to the needs of a burial is a positive commandment of rabbinic origin" whereas Rashi, in his commentary on Deuteronomy 34:26, says burying the dead is imitatio dei [imitation of God.]
Rashi says that, in the same way, that God saw to the proper burial of Moses, we, too, bury the dead.
The mitzvah is so important that according to the Talmud, even a kohen, [a priest], who is normally forbidden from coming into contact with a corpse, may defile himself if he "chances upon a corpse by the wayside, and there is no one else in the area who can be called upon to bury it."
A Jewish person should also be buried in the ground, and in the ground only, according to Halakha (Yoreh Deah), which is based on the verse "For dust you are, and to dust you shall return" (Genesis 3:19).
What are the stages of a Jewish funeral?
The first stage of a Jewish funeral is taharah (Purification). Here, the body is cleansed and purified by the Chevra Kadisha, a process that involves washing the body, purifying it with water, and dressing it in white shrouds.
This is followed by shomer (Guard), which means that from the time of death until the burial, the body is not left unattended. A shomer does not leave the side of the body and recites prayers. The funeral service - or levayah - then takes place, with accompanying eulogies and prayers.
The body is then interred in the ground of the cemetery in a ceremony called Kevurah, and the grave is then filled in with earth.
Finally, those attending the funeral form two lines, and the mourners pass through the center receiving words of support, in what is called nichum aveilim (comforting mourners: a mitzvah that also takes place during the seven days of Shiva).