Question:
Is burial on the Sabbath ever permissible? Is It permissible during the War Emergency period?
A plane crash took place killing several military men of whom one was a Jew. The post authorities made all arrangements for the funeral which occured on the Sabbath. The chaplain was asked to participate and agreed to participate insofar as the military honors were concerned. But he explained to the authorities that Jews do not bury on the Sabbath..…But the bodies were so mangled and in such condition that it would have been better to bury them at once. How can burial on Sabbath be permitted on the battlefield?
Answer:
The Jerushalmi to Moed Katan III, 5 discusses the question of the termination of the period of Shiva and speaks of a case in which the eight day comes on the Sabbath (which means that the burial itself took place on the past Sabbath). But how could that have occured? One answer given by the Jerushalmi is that the grave was closed on the Sabbath by gentiles.
Nevertheless in spite of this implication that burials may have taken place on the Sabbath with gentiles performing the necessary work, the law is clear that burial on the Sabbath is forbidden. See particularly Tosafoth to b. Baba Kamma, 81a (under the phrase 'Omer L'Nochri') as follows: "Logically it ought to be permitted to bury the dead on the Sabbath, but since it is ugly and shameful to be buried on the Sabbath, in violation of the Sabbath law, it is forbidden also for burial to be performed by gentiles." Even a Meth Mitzvah may not be buried on the Sabbath. (See b. Sanhedrin 35a and b where a theoretical supposition by Resh Lakish that such a burial be permitted, is refuted by the Talmud.)
This general prohibition applies to normal circumstances. Yet even in civilian life in case of an epidemic, if the government orders the immediate burial of someone who dies on Friday evening, then the burial must take place. (See Greenwald's "Ach L'tsarah" p. 971). In wartime, a military command sets aside the laws of the Sabbath. (See Chofetz Chayyim, Machneh Yisrael, Chapter 28: "With regard to a man in military life, the duties imposed upon him by the command of the government, Tsivvuil Hammemshalah, are permitted to be done and he is not thereby a profaner of the Sabbath."
On the battlefield where a burial detail is specifically ordered to bury the dead, the Jewish chaplain and whatever Jewish soldiers receive the order must bury the dead even on the Sabbath.
Back of the battle areas or in the United States when specific military order is given for immediate burial owing to an epidemic or a catastrophe, such as an airplane accident when the condition of the bodies requires immediate burial, then this specific order should be accepted without question and the bodies should be buried even on the Sabbath.
Aside from these exceptional circumstances burial should not take place on the Sabbath,
But in exceptional cases as referred to above; the chaplain should consult the officer in charge as to whether the burial may not be postponed to another day when burial is permitted according to Jewish practice.
Dr. Jung adds to the above that while as mentioned the burial should not be opposed by the chaplain, the usual service should be modified