On Sun, 2 Aug 1998 06:00:25, Alexander Serebrenik
<alicser@grotto.cs.huji.ac.il> 'llowed:

 The explanation i heard here, in Israel, is that everything
 except rocks is mortal (f.e. flowers) - and only stones will
 remain forever. So does our memory...
 Best regards,
 Alexander

This is very poetic, but probably not historically meaningful.

In many cultures (including ours) it is considered a good deed to take
care of burial of the deceased, for very rational reasons. Placing a
stone (rock sounds a little ambitious) on a grave is an expression of
this good deed, even if the occupant of the grave has been there for
centuries; it is grave maintenance, in that case.


-------------
Stan Goodman
Qiryat Tiv'on
Israel

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