Question:
please help me and clarify this question. a friend of mine. who is good jew, we went together to kever tsaddikim to visit in Ukraine. and he wanted to urinate so badly after we visited grave actually it was in the field but in the grave lines there were so many graves. so he asked if he could go to the bushes even it was in the line of grave grounds terrritory. he said he cannot have any more patience not to do it ! my question can he do that or no ? please advise
Answer:
Essentially it is disrespectful to do something like that in a cemetery, and therefore not allowed, however in your situation, he seemed to be left with no choice. Additionally, the halachos of respect in a cemetery apply to the whole area of the cemetery, there is an opinion (Chazon Ish- 209-15) that it only applies to that part that has graves. Therefore, in this desperate situation, that he wasn’t relieving himself in the area of the graves, and it is only urinating, we can’t say that he did wrong.
Sources:
Yerushalmi Brachos 2-3, Rema 368-1, Divrei Sofrim 368-1, Poskim.
