A not yet frum person is asking me about burial in a wall. Is this allowed?
There is a Halachic requirement to bury the deceased in the ground itself1. This prohibits burial in a wall, such as in the wall of a crypt or mausoleum. The Gemoro describes burials in the walls of caves that were dug specifically to inter the deceased, but that is different because the walls of the caves were essentially the ground.
In a Teshuva2 regarding burial in a mausoleum, Reb Moshe Feinstein cites the above-mentioned sources, as well as the Rambam3, to demonstrate that burial in the ground is obligatory. He asserts that one who buries in a mausoleum violates a positive and negative commandment each day, in addition to the deplorable and unforgivable sin of bringing pain to the dead, for which repentance cannot help without seeking forgiveness from the dead, but for which there can be no reason why the dead should forgive. Reb Moshe concludes that even to merely be buried in a cemetery with such mausoleums is a disgrace and to be avoided.
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