Ketubot 46 - 52 Bury Me Not! If a man instructs his children
that the funds he bequeaths them not be used for the purpose of
burying him, rules Rabbi Masneh, this request must be ignored.
The reason -- he has no right to enrich his heirs by imposing
himself upon the community's charity fund. Tosefot (Mesechta
Bechorot 42b) cites this gemara in reference to a question
raised in Mesechta Sanhedrin (46b). Is the purpose of burial,
pondered the Sages, to prevent the indignity of his decomposing
corpse being viewed? Or is it to serve as an atonement for the
sins of the deceased by subjecting him to subterranean
concealment? The practical ramification of this question is how
to rule in a case when a man, prior to death, asks that he not
be buried. If the purpose is to prevent indignity, he has no
right to waive burial, as his unburied corpse will be a source
of embarrassment for his family. If, however, the only purpose
is atonement, it is his prerogative to waive atonement. Why,
asks Tosefot, does the gemara there