What Is the Meaning of Stones on Jewish Graves?
Memorials to the dead at a grave site take many forms--wreaths, bouquets of flowers, small items the deceased person enjoyed while they were alive, or notes and photos encased in plastic sleeves. Mourning and remembering the dead are rituals that were performed even among prehistoric man. Jewish tradition calls for placing a stone or pebble atop a headstone or grave during a visit. Whatever the initial reason might have been, the gesture is now a symbolic one to honor the memory of a dead loved one, friend or relative.
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Marking a Visit
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One of the simplest reasons for placing a stone or a pebble atop a Jewish grave is to show that someone has visited the grave. As different visitors come to pay their respects to the person buried in the grave, others can see how many people have recently stopped by. Graveside visitors often bring their own stones or pebbles along with them, as modern cemeteries are well-kept and tidy, and therefore loose pebbles are hard to find. Non-Jews leave flowers near a person's grave, but a pebble or stone is believed to signify a more permanent memory of the loved one that, unlike flowers, will never fade.
God's Sling
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Another possible meaning for the placing of stones on a Jewish grave is linked to shepherds who tended their flocks of sheep in ancient times. To keep track of the numbers of sheep for that day, the shepherd would carry a pebble-filled sling over his shoulder. Each pebble in the sling corresponded to a sheep in the flock: 40 pebbles meant 40 sheep. It was an easy way to keep track of the number of sheep for the day, as each day's flock varied in number. In a time when people did not jot things down on a scrap of paper, a sling filled with pebbles came in handy as a memory jog. So, too, according to belief, God has a figurative sling of stones with which he numbers and keeps an accounting of his souls, living and departed.
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Burial Mounds
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In very ancient times, the dead, Jew and non-Jew, were buried under a pile of rocks. Adding a stone at each visit could have had a very significant and useful meaning since the mound of rocks protected the dead from raids by hungry animals and scavengers. Also, each rock left by the grave visitor added a new, figurative monument to the dead.
The Rock of Israel
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In addition to other names, God, in Jewish tradition, is known as "The Rock of Israel." Like God, a stone or a pebble is enduring and permanent. And, according to belief, God is stronger than death and his love is unending, so placing a stone on a grave is symbolic of God's infinite strength, love and memory.
Staying Put
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Superstition might also play a role in why stones are placed on Jewish graves. Shortly after death, souls were said to linger for an unspecified time in their graves. The rocky mounds over the dead person's body kept the souls in check, preventing them from wandering away and causing trouble or confusion elsewhere. Placing a stone atop the grave is symbolic of adding to the grave's barrier, for keeping the would-be wandering souls where they belong--inside the grave and away from the land of the living. This belief seems to have stemmed from Eastern European folklore.
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An explanation on possible reason why stones are placed on Jewish grave is the practice of shepherds in ancient times to bring along with them pebbles for their slingshots in accordance to the number of animals they drive in the pasture. Shepherds learn it from experience that they need to be practical and make life easier for them as they watch their animals in the field. They cover long distances if forage crops are not sufficient hence these Bedouins carry with them simple tent materials. Would one carry with him load of stones or pieces of small rocks can be easily picked up along the way? Why would one carry that load all along when you can just stoop down and pick one or two stones handily? Besides, 40 head of sheep is not too many to remember. Shepherds have their own method of remembering the animals they bring out to pasture, and they do this everyday that one can uniquely describe in his mind how one differ from another. Normally, the number of animals one drive to the pasture remains the same unless, a few of them give birth which and experinced shepherd can even predict by basis of appearance. Ii grew up with carabaos as the main enterprise of our family, like many other shepherds, I name each of them usually based on features. They all are black, horns are all curved upwards and backwards, same length to the unfamiliar but spending days withanimals makes one familiar that even their sounds are distinctly different, no need to carry pebbles, they get heavier as one gets tired under the heat of th4e sun. Read more: What Is the Meaning of Stones on Jewish Graves? | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/about_5070506_meaning-stones-jewish-graves.html#ixzz1pzVF2dLB.
