The Custom of Placing a Stone on a Grave

The article traces the origin of the Jewish custom of placing a stone on a grave when visiting a cemetery. The practice is a sanitized version of an older Ashkenazic custom dating from the period of the Crusades to throw earth, grass or a stone backwards at the end of a funeral in order to ward off evil spirits or the unsettled dead. That practice itself was based on the folk practices of the surrounding non-Jewish community. The superstitious elements of the original practice were removed and the symbolism was reinterpreted resulting in the popular practice seen today.

folk superstitions · Jewish-Christian relations · ritual symbolism · warding off evil spirits · Death, Funerary Practices, and Mourning · Folklore, Mythology, and Literature Studies · Historical, Religious, and Philosophical Studies