Could anyone tell me if some Jewish graves do not have grass on them
for a reason?  One cemetary in the East End has stones upon the graves
themselves.  Is this becuase of a requirement of the Jewish religion?

Hello dogger-ga,

It seems that both the lack of grass and the placement of stones on
graves are traditions, rather than requirements.  The best set of
explanations for these traditions that I have found (on two sites) is
by Rabbi Thomas (Tom) Louchheim:

"Ask the Rabbi - Question:  Why do we place pebbles on grave stones?",
by Thomas Louchheim
Congregation Or Chadash 
http://uahcweb.org/az/orchadash/ask_the_rabbi.html#Pebbles

"Question: Why do we place pebbles on grave stones?", by Rabbi Tom
Louchheim
Temple Emanu-El (San Jose, California)
http://www.templesanjose.org/JudaismInfo/time/Life_Cycle/pebbles.htm

It is worth reading the entire explanation by Rabbi Louchheim, but
here is a brief summary: Under a Talmudic interpretation, a tombstone
should be a large stone slab placed on the grave as a marker.  In the
absence of a large stone stab, people would put a bunch of smaller
stones.  Over time, this evolved into a custom of placing stones -- or
tufts of grass! -- on a gravestone to show that visitors had come and
to honor the deceased.  Grass is plucked as a reminder of the
resurrection [which, I presume, means the resurrection after the
coming of the Messiah], in light of the Psalm that says "They shall
spring up as the grass of the field."

I would further speculate that the lack of growing grass and the
placement of stones or tufts of grass are related: One could not so
easily see the stones or tufts of grass on a grave if grass was
growing over it.  But that is just speculation; the reason suggested
by this rabbi is that gravestones are stone slabs and that grass is
plucked.

Here are a few additional explanations, especially with respect to the
placement of stones:

"Ask the Rabbi: Grave Gravel" (16 January 1999)
Ohr Somayach International
http://www.ohr.org.il/ask/ask222.htm#Q1

"Hazikaron / The Memory - Dear JCAM ..." [page 2] (Winter, 2002)
Jewish Cemetery Association of Massachusetts
http://www.jcam.org/jnews/jcam_winter_2002.pdf

"Mail.Jewish Mailing List - Stones on Graves", by Joey Mosseri (Apr
14, 1994)
Mail-Jewish Digest
http://www.ottmall.com/mj_ht_arch/v12/mj_v12i57.html#CQV

I hope that this information is helpful.

- justaskscott-ga


Search terms used on Google:

stones grass jewish graves
stones grass jewish graves custom

[I tried other searches as well, including words such as "judaism",
"slab", and "pebbles", but the search terms listed above resulted in
the pages that I have cited.]

As always a speedy and informative reply from Google Answers.  I don't
know how I managed before I found it.  Many thanks justaskscott-ga.
Thanks also to anyone taking the time to comment, it is very much
appreciated.

Just something to add...

some cemetaries have restrictions upon which type of stone or marker
can go in that particular cemetary or even in one section of a
cemetary.

For instance, my father is buried in a jewish cemetary in philadelphia
where his grave has a flat marker, approximately 2 feet wide and 1
foot high. Other sections in the same cemetary have upright
tombstones.

My grandparents, buried in the only cemetary in Savannah have the flat
stones that cover the entire grave. Again, dictated by the cemetary,
along with jewish traditions.