Attitudes toward death and suicide through the lens of Ḥalutzi-era gravestones

Communities memorialise their dead through gravestones, messages to the future carved in stone. Gravestone text and attributes reflect what the remembering community sought to preserve forever, a window into attitudes about the person specifically and death in general. The Second and Third Aliyah ḥalutzi period in the Land of Israel (1910–1923) was a landmark period of social change and innovation. New communal attitudes emerged and communities dealt with social troubles, including difficult lives that included young death from illness, violence, and suicide. We examine ḥalutzi period burial culture generally and attitude towards suicide specifically through the lens of 163 gravestones, including 31 from reported cases of suicide. We analyse the content and sentiment of the gravestones, paying special attention to the subset of gravestones from suicide cases. Through the set, we also explore trends, including use of sacred language, memorialisation of family and social group, recording cause of death, and sentiments expressed through epitaphs. Comparing the ḥalutzi era epitaphs with those from other Jewish communities, we find that ḥalutzi era gravestones showed a modesty of language and style and a tendency to simply describe life as lived with little embellishment or poetry.

Recommended citation: May, M. J., & Kantor, E. (2025). Attitudes toward death and suicide through the lens of Ḥalutzi-era gravestones. Mortality, 1–24. https://doi.org/10.1080/13576275.2025.2533974
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