Halacha Date: 22 Sivan 5783 June 11 2023
Question: May one visit the graves of righteous people on Shabbat?
Answer: The Poskim write that it is forbidden to visit a cemetery on Shabbat, holidays, or Chol Ha’Moed. (Maran zt”l rules likewise in his Chazon Ovadia-Avelut, page 140, among other places.) Nevertheless, it seems from the Poskim that there is no intrinsic prohibition in entering a cemetery on Shabbat; rather, visiting a cemetery on Shabbat is only forbidden because of the pain it causes the visitors. On the other hand, visiting the tomb of a righteous man which is not located in an actual cemetery and does not cause pain to the visitors, such as the Rambam’s grave in Teveria and the like, seems not to be prohibited on Shabbat according to the letter of the law since this does not cause one any pain whatsoever.
Nevertheless, the great Rishon Le’Zion, Hagaon Harav Yitzchak Yosef Shlit”a, discusses this issue in his recently published Responsa of the Rishon Le’Zion, Volume One, page 86 and writes that according to the great Mekubalim, the souls of the righteous do not rest upon their graves on Shabbat. It would therefore seem that there is no reason to visit the graves of the righteous on Shabbat since their souls are not present at that time and there is no benefit in praying at the grave during such days.
Indeed, the Steipler Gaon, Hagaon Harav Yaakov Yisrael Kanievsky zt”l, would rule that there is no reason to visit even the tomb of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai on Shabbat, for the soul of the righteous man is not present on such days.
Nevertheless, the great Rishon Le’Zion points out that there is nonetheless some benefit in praying upon a righteous person’s grave even when his soul is not present in the cemetery, for the Maharil and other great Poskim write that the advantage of praying at a righteous person’s grave is due to the fact that such graves are considered sanctified and pure places and prayers are accepted in a special manner when uttered from such places.
Rabbeinu Nissim writes in his Derashot (Darush 8) that prayer at the grave of a righteous person is especially accepted because the body of the righteous person, who had already merited being a receptacle for divine abundance, is buried there and the special honor bestowed upon the righteous still applies to this individual. Based on this, it seems that praying at the graves of the righteous is beneficial even on Shabbat.
Thus, halachically speaking, it is permissible to pray at the grave of a righteous individual on Shabbatot and festivals when the grave is not actually within the cemetery, such as the grave of Maran Rabbeinu Ovadia Yosef zt”l which is at the edge of the cemetery. This is also only permissible when such a visit and prayer do not cause one pain or suffering. However, the benefit of praying at a righteous person’s grave on Shabbat is certainly less than the benefit of doing so during the rest of the week.
