If a women many years ago had a leg amputated and buried in city A, and now this women died. Is there an inyan or chiyuv to bury the entire body together, or is it OK to have body parts buried in two seperate locations?
Answer:
According to many authorities, there is no obligation to bury body parts that were amputated while a person is alive. It follows that there is also no obligation to have the body parts buried together with the body, after death.
However, some have written that there is an “inyan” to have all parts of the body together after death, and there is a custom (followed by some) to bury amputated parts in the grave that is prepared for the person after his 120. Therefore, if it is no trouble, there would be an ‘inyan,’ but there is no obligation to go to lengths to relocate the limb.
Sources:
Yad Hamelech (Eivel 2:14) explains that body parts severed during a person’s lifetime require burial, basing himself on a ruling of Rambam. However, Shevus Yaakov (2:101) and Noda Biyhuda (Tinyana, Yoreh De’ah 209) write that there is no obligation of burial other than ensuring that the limb should not cause ritual impurity, and this opinion is widely upheld by later authorities (see Gesher Hachaim, part 1, 15:2, sec. 2). Yet, although they agree with the halachah, Teshuvos Vehanhagos (vol. 1, no. 877) writes that the righteous ensure that the limb will be buried with them, and Maharil Diskin (K.A. no. 188) writes that there is a custom to bury the limb in the grave intended for the body (see also Gesher Hachaim).
