Editing Veneration of the dead (section)

==Judaism==
Judaism, like Islam, has a complicated relationship to ancestor veneration/worship, grave shrines, and other related concepts. It is thought ancient Israelite religion and Pre-Israelite Cannanites practiced a form of ancestor worship in which ancestors were raised to the status of gods, and some form of similar practice was likely seen as acceptable in Israelite religion until King Josiah's reign.<ref name="AI" /> In Biblical literature, and in contemporary prayer, the ancestors, particularly Abraham, Moses, Aaron, Jacob/Israel, or "the Patriarchs" and "the Matriarchs", are often referred to. Stress is placed on the identity of the Jewish people as being the "seed", "house", or "children" of these figures.<ref name="MO" />

Two prayers—[[Kaddish]] and [[Yizkor]]—are recited on behalf of the dead by Rabbinic Jews, including on anniversaries of a death. For some, the performance of prayers, especially prayers in their first year after death from their children, are thought to positively impact God's judgement of them, as well as donations and other good works done in their name. This is similar to Japanese practices and other ancestral veneration practices overall.<ref name="MO" /> These good deeds done in the name of the dead are reciprocated by the dead's prayers to God for the living.<ref name="SD">{{Cite web |title=Jewish Magic and Superstition: 5. The Spirits of the Dead |url=https://sacred-texts.com/jud/jms/jms07.htm |access-date=2024-03-19 |website=sacred-texts.com}}</ref><ref name="HW" /> There are taboos and injunctions the living must follow, particularly in regard to their direct ancestors: not to use the remains of coffin wood for other purposes, to bury the dead in a proper shroud, and not to eat or drink at the beginning and/or close of Shabbat, as that is when spirits of the dead are believed to eat, drink, and bathe. One who eats during this time has stolen from the spirits, and one who drinks at the beginning of Shabbat risks ingesting contaminated bathing water.<ref name="SD" />

Ashkenazi Jews commonly name children after dead relatives, and are hoped to embody those dead's positive traits. Eastern European Jews specifically transform the concept of ''zechut avot''—the merit of one's ancestors, used to explain both a belief that the dead pray on behalf of the deceased, and a prayer to God to remember the good deeds of one's ancestors and be merciful in judgement—into the related idea of ''yichus ovus'', inherited ancestral status.<ref name="MO">{{Cite journal |last1=Savishinsky |first1=Joel S. |last2=Wimberley |first2=Howard |date=1974 |title=The Living and the Dead: A Cross-Cultural Perspective on Jewish Memorial Observances |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/4466838 |journal=Jewish Social Studies |volume=36 |issue=3/4 |pages=281–300 |jstor=4466838 |issn=0021-6704}}</ref>

In contemporary Rabbinic Judaism, visiting the graves of tzaddikim (righteous figures akin to saints) has long remained popular, including the graves of ancestral figures like Abraham and Esther.<ref name="HW">{{Cite web |last=Neustadt |first=Rabbi Doniel |date=2017-06-25 |title=Visiting Graves Of Tzaddikim: How And Why? |url=https://torah.org/torah-portion/weekly-halacha-5771-terumah/ |access-date=2024-03-18 |website=Torah.org |language=en-US}}</ref> These visits may also be accompanied by petitions of the dead, as their elevated status is thought to give them more direct access to God.<ref name="SD" /> Rabbinic Jews stress that they do not worship the dead, and only respect and honor them—a distinction made by other cultures, including Japanese<ref name="MO" /> and African cultures.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Libation by Kimani S. K. Nehusi (Ebook) - Read free for 30 days |url=https://www.everand.com/book/383590626/Libation-An-Afrikan-Ritual-of-Heritage-in-the-Circle-of-Life |access-date=2024-03-18 |website=Everand |language=en}}</ref>