It is revealed that Mrs. Ronit Ramon, widow of Israel’s first and only astronaut Ilan Ramon who died in the Columbia spacecraft explosion, and mother of air force pilot Assaf Ramon, who was killed in a F-16 crash, wishes to be cremated to spare her children another levaya.
According to a Ynet report, Ramon, who died of cancer on Monday at the age of 54, left the instructions in her will, stating she wished to spare the children the difficulty of another funeral after the loss of their father z”l and their brother z”l. Mrs. Ramon is survived by three children and her parents.
Her casket will lie in state in the Peres Peace Center on Wednesday from 9:00AM to 1:00PM to permit persons to pay their last respects to her and the family members. The service will be held at 4:00PM with the participation of family members and friends.
[Israeli Rabbi Urges Family Against Cremation For Rona Ramon]
(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
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41 Responses
Ridiculous! So have a funeral and appropriate burial, and instruct that the children not attend the funeral. Just pay some strangers to attend. Problem solved!
As wrong as it is, Stop judging people you know nothing about.
Cremation is not instead of Levaya it’s instead of Burial.
If trying to avoid another funeral bury her without a funeral…
The greatest possible chessed one can do for this woman is to ignore her request and bury her Kdas moshe VeYisroel. Right now she is begging for just that…..
Sorry…. Moshe VeYisroel
Reb Dons, you’re so right! Her neshama now knows what a stupid request she’s made and is hoping her request falls on dear ears.
This is Lushen Hura “IF” it is true.
This is so tragic. After all the tragedies that she suffered with such courage, she is causing herself such anguish. If is surely from ignorance – no judgement – but so very sad. As others have written, her neshama is begging that her request be ignored and that she will be zocheh to kever Yisroel. Her own husband’s body was probably reduced to ashes when the Columbia blew up. There is really no connection between what is done with the body and having a funeral service or not…
Nebach…why was there no one in her life there to convince her earlier?? Organizations,chesed,lawyers,etc..someone?anyone?
Ilan Ramon died from an explosion was there a burial or did he disintegrate like what happens at a cremation
Do they actually have crematoria in Israel?
It is Asara BeTevet today and not a single mention of it in YWN. Shameful.
Perhaps this will bring to light a major problem. The public has no idea how many Jews are being cremated. For many it is a financial decision. I actually spoke to a leading Rav in Brooklyn and asked him to get involved in a stop cremation movement and he looked at me like I was nuts. If you want to get involved please get in touch [email protected]
Cremation is obviously wrong but this lady suffered immensly during her life. Both her son and husband died in accidents and she suffered from cancer and an early death. Hashem Yirachem is a more appropriate title for your rush to judgement.
This is from the Jerusalem Post 14 September 2009, and suggests that Ilan Ramon’s body was found and buried.
“The funeral of Assaf Ramon, who died Sunday afternoon when his Israel Air Force F-16 crashed in the South Hebron Hills, will take place on Monday at 4 p.m. at the military cemetery in Nahalal. He will be buried next to his father, Ilan Ramon, who died in the Columbia space shuttle disaster six years ago.”
Geordie,
Interesting!
Why wouldn’t that explosion disintegrate his body?
Perhaps the best zchus for this high profile nifteres will be the recognition amongst the YWN readers as to the need to kiruv in EY (and the rest of the world). Believe it or not, the vast majority of Jews in the Holyland are tinokos shenishba
Yid With principals: There is no issur of loshon horah whatsoever about someone who is not shomer Torah and mitzvos. “Lo selech rochil be’amecha- beosey maaseh amchah”.
reb dons, I don’t think that applies to Tinnok shenishbo.
However I believe once something is public is no longer lashon hara , her request was abviously not a secret as people will know she is not been buried and also I’m sure is all over the media.
Deoraiisa there is no lashon hara on the dead however we care about derabanans..
She knew no better, maybe some one in Israel can steal her body bury it and give them cat ashes 🙂
You can blame Theordeor Herzl for this one
I once many years ago, turned down a job in a Jewish organization, when they told me, that I must respect people’s wishes, and never talk them out of their wishes, even if it is a cremation. Clearly I wasn’t prepared to work on such terms.
It doesn’t make a difference now whether the son or father had a kevurah.
The only question is how can we make sure that there is going to be a kevuras Yisrael, This is a serious situation and it’s terrible for the neshama to not have a kevura. It’s a matter of time to arrange the kevura to happen. Any ideas? Does anybody know the family? Is it money or a matter of convincing?
Git Meshige, Herztel just meant to save the Jews. Don’t blame him for some one else’s aveiros.
I read not to long ago (I forget where) that more and more people in Israel are opting for cremation.
Sad and misguided and I would like to think that at the last moment she regreted her decision and doesnt want to be cremated .
I understand and laud her desire to alleviate her childrens suffering although we all know that cremation will not acheive that goal. They will greive her memory every day of their lives as we all do our deceased loved ones. Cremation doesnt change anything/
This woman had a difficult life and I do not envy her, nor judge her, I only wish her neshama and her surviving children all the best, May Hashem give them the strength and wisdom to floursih and be a merit to their parents and brothers lives.
There is no chet, no need for teshuvah for anyone, there are no chilonim, we’re all just tinok shenishbah…..
Loshon haarah is bad for YOUR soul regardless of the other person. remember her husband, who was mekadaish Shem Shamayim in a remarkable way, was incinerated. if you want to respond negatively, save it for your friends; i do not suffer fools.
However I believe once something is public is no longer lashon hara
False,
Git Meshige,
Herzl is buried there, so what are you blabbing about? Additionally, Many, many Jews outside of EY unfortunately choose cremation who wouldn’t know Herzl from a hole in the wall.
Du bist takke git meshige.
“Herztel just meant to save the Jews”
Herztel’s intentions were to be a free “Nation” like all Nations. The “promised land” was only a ‘Marketing’ tool to gather support by other Jews. He was fine with East Africa as well…
Mdd1, he meant to save Jews from Yidishkeit. If he had his way Israel wouldve been in Uganda. He wanted to uproot Torah and mitzvos. Dont portray him into something he is not
maybe we all just need to take a chill pill and have a look at the Rama YD 363-2 quoting Rashba that allows dissolving body. Also Machtzis Hashekel on OC 311 in most Shulchan Aruch’s that says a burned human body is something ttaht aggravtes people but in Halacha is not that bad and Magen Avraham on 311-1 that ir’s not bizayon . And Shmuel Aleph 31-12
Dr Yidd: According to NASA experts the space shuttle was (I quote) ‘a thousands times more dangerous than the most dangerous aircraft in the world’ – and “he knew the risks he was taking”
Mr Ramon z’l’ had no business risking his life to travel on that thing just for ‘zionistic Kovod reasons (venishmartem lenafshoseychem)….Along with all the chillul shabbos involved- and making his children yesomim and wife an almonoh -No- He was not “mekadesh shem shomayim in a remarkable way”- I don’t care how many sifrey Torah or kiddush cups he brought with him on the shuttle.
You cannot be mekadesh shem shomayim by doing Issurey Torah that are chayev missah, or any other aveyros for that matter…..
Don’t judge the woman. But hopefully her children will change this bad decision.
Ziongate , your screen name identifies your ideology. Read some history books and you will discover the centuries old Zionism ideology founded by herzl was a movement that convinced many many Jews to leave yiddishkeit way before they even went to Israel. Even though herzl was buried I’m sure he wouldn’t give a hoot if his family member decided to cremate. He dodnt give a hoot about God so why should his talmidim give a hoot?
Want to know about our friends the zionists? Read ‘Perfidy’ by Ben Hecht….It makes one want to vomit….
Anyway, Forget the space shuttle, the fact that Ilan Ramon z’l risked his life to destroy Saddam’s Osirak nuclear reactor- now that IS a zechus…….
@Git Meshige….
Hey, you’re on the ball… Yes, my screen name ID’s my ideology, as yours ID’s your mental state. I’ve already discussed this on other threads, no need to re-tread or re- thread here.
It’s you who hasn’t read books on Herzl, except the blogs, websites, possibly the Williamsburg Yiddish weekly called ” Der Goy” and other such fish wraps. No shortage of them…
Right away you fibbed when you blamed Herzl for cremation, conflagration & 9/ 11.
Everybody knows of his instructions to be buried in EY, except for you, the book reader & librarian in some mishiginer asylum..
Reb Dons, to say he was “mekadesh shem shomayim in a remarkable way”- does not say whether or not it was a halakhically defined mitzvah. according to some/many rishonim, men who killed their families during the crusades violated an issur de’oraysah. however, they too were “mekadesh shem shomayim in a remarkable way”-
If you even merely skim through Herzl’s diary, you get a clear understanding of his intentions. There is extant an exchange of letters between hans hertzl (his son) and nachum sokolow, who complained that hans had never been circumcised. Hans mockingly explained in response that that was exactly his father’s intention: to “wean” the Jewish people away from Judaism. They had an xmas tree in their home. Herzl was certainly not a personality that any observant Jew should show any respect.
As to Mrs. Ramon. It’s clear this woman endured unimaginable tribulations during her life. Providing her with proper kvuras Yisroel would be the best possible comfort for her soul. I hope her children can be persuaded to do the right thing.
Ziongate, I prefer having the Chofetz Chaim and Rav Elchomon Wasserman as my role model and not Herzl YMS. I didnt say Herzl was not buried
What I said was he wouldn’t object to any of his followers choosing to be cremated
Are you disputing the fact that he hated God?
Dr Yidd: Are you for REAL? Are you claiming Rishonim say that people who murdered their families were mekadesh shem shomayim by doing retzicha? Murderers who acted against the halochoh?!!! WHICH Rishonim????!!!!!! Any Rishon who says someone was mekadesh shem shomayim, it’s because he was doing a mitzvah -NOT an aveyroh.
Doing aveyros is a chillul Hashem, doing mitzvos is a kiddush Hashem. You ARE NOT mekadesh shem shomayim by doing aveyros- (and don’t quote me ‘godol aveyroh lishma’ etc because that is actually a mitzvah) This is what Moshe Rabeynu taught us…..