In the Torah portion of Beshalach we read that when leaving Egypt Moshe took along the bones of Yosef to bury them in Israel.
Forty years later the Jewish people completed this task as it says, “And the bones of Yosef, which the children of Israel brought up out of Egypt, they buried in Shechem, in a section of ground which Yaakov bought from the sons of Chamor, the father of Shechem, for a hundred kesita, and they became an inheritance of the children of Yosef.”
Appropriate Burial Plots
This article will discuss the law that one may not bury a wicked person (a rasha) next to a righteous person (a tzadik).
The Talmud derives the law that one may not bury a rasha next to a tzadik from a story in the Book of Kings II, where, due to approaching foreign troops, a man was hurriedly buried in the tomb of Elisha. The verse recounts that, “They cast the man into the tomb of Elisha; and as the man came there, he touched the bones of Elisha, and he revived and stood up on his feet.” G-d brought him back to life because he was a wicked man, and it would have been improper for him to be buried near Elisha. Since the point of this revival was just so that he not be buried next to Elisha, the Talmud says that the man didn’t even live long enough to go home. Rather, he got up, walked out of Elisha’s cave, and died again.
Who Was the Man?
There are several opinions as to the identity of the man who was resurrected:
1) The False Prophet of Shomron
Rashi says that the man was the false prophet from Beit El, in the Shomron, who had invited Ido, the prophet, to eat in his house. When Ido was subsequently killed by a lion (as he had transgressed G-d’s warning not to eat in anyone’s home in that city), this false prophet buried him and requested from his sons that after his passing he be buried next to Ido. Many years later, when he passed away, they were planning to bury him near Ido but due to the arrival of the foreign troops, they buried him hurriedly in Elisha’s grave. (They did so to fulfill their father’s wishes to be buried near a prophet although it was not Ido.) Since he wasn’t worthy to be buried there, he was resurrected just long enough to exit Elisha’s tomb and die again, as mentioned above. After the troops departed his children buried him near Ido as per his request. Many years later, when King Yoshiyahu exhumed and burned the bones of the pagan prophets in Beit El, he spared the bones of this prophet because he was buried near the holy prophet Ido.
The commentaries question how G-d allowed this prophet to be buried near Ido after he was denied burial near Elisha because of his wickedness. They explain that he was only buried near Ido after his flesh had decomposed. The suffering of the decomposition of the body expiates one’s sins and his bones could then be buried near Ido. Others point out that the false prophet had done teshuvah, and thus the gap between him and Ido, who had committed a sin, wasn’t as great as the gap between him and Elisha, who was the leading prophet of the generation.
2) Yonatan ben Gershom
According to the Jerusalem Talmud, the false prophet of Shomron (who according to Rashi, was the one revived by Elisha) was none other than Moshe Rabeinu’s grandson, Yonatan ben Gershom, who was a “kohen” for the idol of Micha.
3) Micha
The Maharatz Chiyut (on Sanhedrin) quotes the above Yerushalmi as saying that the false prophet of Shomron was the wicked Micha, the one who made the idol of Micha. Since it is known that Micha lived a very long life, this explains how he lived until the time of Elisha, more than 100 years after the story of Ido in Beit El.
4) The Son of the Shunamit Who Was Revived by Elisha
The Midrash Shochar Tov says that the man brought back to life was the son of the Shunamite woman who was already revived by Elisha many years earlier.
5) Amatzyah, the “Kohen” of Beit El
The Midrash Rabbah says that the prophet of Shomron (who, according to Rashi, was revived by Elisha) was Amatzyah, the “kohen” of Beit El. (It is noteworthy that Amatzyah, the “kohen” of Beit El, lived in the time of Yeravam ben Yoash, who became king in the year 3115/-646, over 100 years after the story of the prophet of Shomron who was in the time of Yeravam ben Nevat.)
6) Tzidkiyahu ben Chanaya
Another Midrash says that this was Tzidkiyahu ben Kenanya, a false prophet mentioned earlier in Kings I.
7) Shalum ben Tikvah
The Pirkei Derabi Eliezer says that this man was Shalum ben Tikvah, the husband of Chuldah, the prophetess. He would sit on the crossroads and offer water to thirsty travelers. It was in this merit that his wife became a prophetess. When he passed away he was hastily thrown into Elisha’s grave as described above. After he was revived, he returned home to his wife and fathered Chanamel, the cousin of Yirmiyahu, who sold his field to Yirmiyahu.
According to this version of the event, Shalum wasn’t revived because he was a rasha. On the contrary! It was to fulfill the promise of Eliyahu HaNavi that Elisha would have a double portion of his spirit. As such, since Eliyahu had revived one person, Elisha was destined to bring two people back to life. During his lifetime Elisha had revived the son of the Shunamite woman, and after his passing he revived the tzadik Shalum ben Tikvah.
The Reasons
The commentaries explain several reasons as to why a rasha shouldn’t be buried next to a tzadik. (In addition to the obvious reason that it’s disrespectful for a tzadik to be associated with a rasha.) Here are two of them:
- So that the Secrets can be Shared
The Maharil (Rabbi Yaakov Moelin of 14th/15th-century Germany) explains that a tzadik can merit to have Divine secrets revealed to him. If he’s buried next to a rasha however, these secrets can’t be told to him lest the rasha “overhear” them. - So as Not to be Pained by the Rasha’s Punishment
Rabbi Eliezer Chaim Dietch (of 19th and 20th-century of Bonyhad, Hungary) writes that a rasha suffers punishments in the grave. As such, were he to be buried next to a tzadik, the tzadik would be pained by seeing the punishment of the wicked.
The Details
The Halachic authorities discuss various details of the rule that a rasha shouldn’t be buried near a tzadik. Here are some of them.
- An extreme rasha shouldn’t be buried alongside an average wicked person.
- An average tzadik shouldn’t be buried next to an extremely pious person (chassid muflag).
- A Ba’al Teshuvah (repentant sinner) may be buried near a perfect tzadik.
A Stone Fence
Rabbi Yehudah HaChassid (12th/13th-century Germany) writes that a righteous Torah scholar was once buried next to someone of a low stature. The tzadik appeared to the townspeople in a dream and said that they had treated him badly by burying him next to a bathroom with a bad smell and with smoke coming from it. The people created a stone barrier between the two graves and the tzadik did not return in subsequent dreams.
May Hashem Bless Us to Find our Place, in this World and in the Next!
Wishing you a Shabbat Shalom UMevorach!
Copyright 2025 by Rabbi Aryeh Citron
