Thoughts on Human Composting

Originally Posted February 20, 2026 - 3 Adar, 5786

You may have noticed an article published last week in the Chicago Tribune by Adriana Pérez entitled “Human Composting Offers an Environmentally Friendly End. Some Are Pushing to Legalize It in Illinois.” Though this method of handling human remains is not presently offered in this state, as of last week, several companies who offer this service in Washington State where it has been legal since 2020, began offering logistical services to transport bodies to Washington for preparation. I figured that sooner or later someone will be asking me about the Jewish view of this procedure.

           How might Jewish families consider such an option? As we know, the standard practice among Jews for centuries has been burial in the earth. This is more than simply a custom. It is counted among the mitzvot of Judaism based on the law in Deuteronomy 21:23, where we are instructed that following the execution of a person convicted of a capital crime, “kavor tikb’renu bayom ha-hu,” you must bury him the same day. According to Midrash Sifre it is a positive commandment to bury a person and one violates a negative commandment if one delays the burial. Ideally, as it says, the burial should occur on the same day. Maimonides in his Sefer Mitzvot, explicitly adds, “the same law applies to all the dead, that is we should bury all the dead on the day of their death.” As we know, provision has been made by the rabbis to allow a short delay in order to show proper honor to the deceased, but we make every effort to schedule a funeral as soon as possible after death. The words “kavor tikb’renu” you must bury him, are taken to limit funeral practice to burial alone.

           Thus according to halachah, cremation is forbidden. Other reasons for that are provided based on the concept that the body is not ours to dispose of as we wish. Both body and soul are considered holy in Jewish belief, created in the divine image. When the soul departs, the body is to be treated with utmost respect. It is a mitzvah to serve on the Chevra Kadisha, the burial society. These groups of men and women gather after the death of a member of the community and perform the appropriate tasks of preparing the body for burial: washing it, performing taharah, the ritual purification by pouring water over the body, drying it, dressing it in shrouds, and placing it in a kosher casket, as appropriate biblical verses are read. Those who have served in this capacity, men preparing men and women preparing women, have described the experience as a spiritual privilege. As a newborn child is dependent on others to wash and dress him, so too as we depart this world, we are dependent on our friends and neighbors to provide our final needs. Some have mentioned that in turning the body on its side in order to wash the back, one embraces the person one final time. I have had the privilege of serving on the Chevra Kadisha in several communities and witnessed the respect and dignity shown to the deceased as these sacred tasks are performed.

           By burying the dead in the ground we fulfill the verse in Genesis where God tells Adam that he will return to the ground for from it you were taken. “For dust you are and unto dust you shall return.” Jewish law clearly forbids cremation based on these considerations as well as various beliefs in the resurrection of the dead and different mystical concepts as well.

           Rabbi Mark Washofsky, emeritus professor of rabbinics at Hebrew Union College in his book Jewish Living: A Guide to Contemporary Reform Practice, writes “Some Reform Jews have adopted the practice of cremation. While this method of handling the dead is certainly contrary to Jewish tradition, there is no clearcut prohibition of cremation in the halakhic literature. Cremation can be justified religiously in that it rapidly achieves the decomposition of the body. Ecological arguments, too, can be offered for it. It has been opposed on the other hand, as a denial of faith in bodily resurrection; as an unnecessary imitation of Gentile practice; and as a reminder of the fate of our people in the crematoria of the Holocaust. The Reform rabbinate seeks to discourage cremation, when possible, in favor of the more traditionally Jewish practice. When a family has decided upon cremation, however, Reform rabbis do not refuse to officiate at the service.”

           Turning to Conservative Judaism, in the Observant Life, my colleague and classmate, Rabbi Carl Astor, voices a similar opinion, “Judaism regards the human body as a sacred trust from God that none has the right to desecrate or destroy, and this has been the view of Judaism since ancient times. Therefore, cremation, considered the ultimate expression of disrespect to the dead, is absolutely forbidden in all instances.” He goes on to mention the association with the Shoah as well, but speaks also of special circumstances such as the situation of Jews leaving the former Soviet Union and taking the cremated remains of family members with them to be buried in a Jewish cemetery. He is also sensitive to the situation of family members where the deceased had expressed the wish to be cremated and the attempt to balance the prohibition in halachah with the respect due to the wishes of the dead.

           The Chabad rabbi, Rabbi Yehuda Shurpin, who stated the halachah as I cited it at the beginning of the piece is also sensitive to personal situations and writes, “if anything I write will come across as insensitive, I beg your forgiveness in advance.” He notes that “commenting on the particulars of one’s experience may need additional questions clarified and is often best done in person with a rabbi more familiar with the particular person or family.”

           With all of this in the background, I must say I have read descriptions of the actual process involved in cremation written by funeral directors and in my personal opinion it seems to be rather gruesome in its details. Thus, those arguing in favor of human composting note that like cremation, composting is often much cheaper than burial and it “also avoids the release of plumes of smoke from cremation and the leaking of fluids from burying embalmed bodies [Judaism frowns on embalming and viewing as well, I must add]. In the United States, each year, cremation releases hundreds of thousands of tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, and funerals put hundreds of thousands of gallons of toxic chemicals into the ground.”

           The argument is made that composting a body is the ultimate fulfillment of the biblical text, returning the body to the dust from which it came. The composted remains then are quite useable to fertilize plant life, trees and gardens and such. Rabbinic thought, however, would still object to both the process utilized to convert a body to compost as well as its use to fertilize plants and forests and such.

           Although composting avoids some of the worst elements of cremation, it still deviates greatly from Jewish requirements even though it has some attraction for those of us raised in the “Age of Aquarius.”. As described in the Tribune article, “the body is placed in a sealed cylindrical vessel that looks like an opaque hyperbaric chamber, alongside organic mulch, wood chips and wildflowers. The remains provide nitrogen, and the natural materials provide carbon – the two main components of compost. The vessel allows for controlled and optimized temperatures, moisture and air flow to create the right conditions for microbes to break the body down. After 30 to 45 days, the process is complete, and even bones are reduced to a fine powder as in the cremation process.” Proponents of the halachah point out that generally there are still elements (bones and teeth) that don’t completely break down and need to be ground up as with cremation. Thus, the entire process, gentle as it is described, as with cremation is seen as a desecration of the sacred body and its divine image and there is a significant delay in returning the body to the earth. One other halachic issue is the utilization of the body as compost to foster the growth of plant life. Halachah prohibits the use of a human body for utilitarian purposes. Autopsies are discouraged unless required by law or when there is the possibility of saving another life. Organ donation is definitely permitted - though some in the Orthodox community still object – only when we know that someone’s life will be saved or even improved by the donation. Bodies donated for medical research or to train doctors also are permitted by some authorities provided they receive proper burial when they are no longer in use. Such usages of a body for saving life or training physicians, override the halachic objections mentioned, but fertilizing a tree is very questionable usage at best.

           Currently, aside from Washington state as mentioned, six other states permit this process: Colorado, Oregon, California, Vermont, New York, and Nevada. Another six or seven states, including Illinois are considering it. Whether or not Jews or other religious groups approve of the process, I feel that others who profess different beliefs than I, who find it comforting or helpful in dealing with the loss of their love ones and wish to consider it, should have the option. Though at an earlier stage of my career I might have refused to be involved in funerals which deviated from standard Jewish burial procedures, my emphasis has shifted over the years to focusing not so much on the disposal of remains, so to speak, but on the needs of the grieving family. To be clear,“Judaism” prohibits cremation, burial at sea, and is none too keen about using mausoleums instead of burying in the ground. Even so, I have officiated at funerals where the body has already been sent to a medical school or when a cremation has happened or will follow and at entombments in mausoleums. I haven’t experienced burial at sea which in the era of refrigeration is less likely to take place these days. I imagine, however, that some may decide in the near future that composting is the way to go for them and their families and it is likely that whatever their decisions, I would see it as my job to offer whatever comfort and consolation I might provide as they process their grief in a way that works for them..

           Over the years, I have officiated at hundreds of funerals and as I have left the cemetery or funeral home, often with a cantor or other rabbinic colleague, we turn to one another in parting with the Yiddish words, “Nor af simches.” May we only know joyful occasions and I extend that wish to you as well..

Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi Edward Friedman

Apologies for late posting, Admin