Israel Top Court Rules for Cremation of Transgender Activist’s Body
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
An Israeli transgender activist’s wish to be cremated will be honored despite efforts by her haredi Orthodox family to bury the activist according to traditional Jewish law.
Israel’s Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected an appeal filed by the family of May Peleg to stop her cremation, Haaretz reported.
“We must respect the will of the deceased over the will of the family as long as the deceased’s will is not against the law,” the court ruled.
The case was appealed to the Supreme Court after a district court ruled that Peleg should be cremated as per instructions in her will.
Cremation is forbidden according to Jewish law, but the practice has become increasingly popular among liberal and secular Jews in recent years, particularly in the United States.
Peleg, a 31-year-old transgender woman who had left the haredi Orthodox community in which she was raised as a man, killed herself earlier this month. The day before her death, she filed a will with her attorney stipulating her desire to be cremated.
In appealing the cremation, Peleg’s mother claimed that her daughter was psychologically unstable and not competent to make the decision.
The family also said in its appeal that it suspected the will had been prepared by “proxies” and did not reflect Peleg’s true wishes, according to Haaretz.
Dozens of members of Israel’s LGBT community attended the Supreme Court session, along with Peleg’s mother and other family members. The attorney for her mother told the court that Peleg’s wish should be considered against the desire of the mother and Peleg’s two children to have a grave to visit.
Peleg was married and fathered the children before leaving the haredi Orthodox community and transitioning from male to female.
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover. All donations are being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
