Please explain to me what the significance is of placing small stones...

[arwalden]

... on grave markers? Is this a Jewish-thing only? What's the purpose? Is it symbolic of anything? Is there a story behind this? Is it the same as leaving flowers (only longer lasting)?

[northzax]

1. I think it's so you have handy ammunition

when the dead rise as zombies.

but I could be misreading things.

[Autumn Colors]

2. Yes, it's a Jewish thing

It's to show that someone was there and the person, remembered.

Additional info: http://www.jewish-funerals.org/stones.htm

[arwalden]

4. Thanks for the info and the excellent links.

:hi:

[stepnw1f]

7. I Like It

Very symbolic...

[Arkansas Granny]

3. I'm sure I heard somewhere that it is a sign of remembrance.

Flowers are rare in the desert and don't last very long, but a stone is a lasting reminder that someone has visited a grave. I see them on gravestones at our local Jewish cemetary.

[babylonsister]

5. Very much a Jewish thing as flowers were rare. Did you ever see

"Schindler's List"? At the end, stones were put on Schindler's grave as a sign of respect and rememberance. I had the good fortune to visit his gravesite in Jerusalem, and was allowed to add
a stone to his plot, where there were already many.

[beam me up scottie]

9. That was extremely powerful.

To see the survivors and their descendent's honouring him like that.


I envy you.

[The Witch]

6. Flowers fade; stones are a permanent reminder

much as the gravestone itself is.

Oh, I'm missing my grandfather so much today... :cry: Today my sister named her baby Noam Abiyan after her husband's and her grandfathers...

sigh. Don't mind me.

[unschooler]

11. Congrats on the new baby in the family!

:)

[Warpy]

8. Flowers die and blow away

Those little stones will stay there forever.

Well, until a bird perches there and knocks them off, but you get the drift.

[SPKrazy]

10. I've Seen This In Old Cemetaries

where markers had either been destroyed or weathered away, stones (multiple) to mark graves.

Usually old country cemetaries in the really old parts. Out looking for ancestors.

But the Jewish thing is probably what you are referring to.