Rabbi Yisrael Rosen, head of the Tzomet Institute on Jewish law and technology, had sharp criticism Friday for the decision by Olympic swimmer Alon Mandel's family to delay the funeral of Alon's father in order to enable Alon to participate in the Olympics.
In an online article Rosen notes that delaying burial is severely prohibited by Jewish law and that it is a common thing for funerals to be held when relatives are still abroad if waiting for them would involve too great a delay. "One can sit Shiva from far away, in China and in a plane," Rosen explained.
The rabbi dismissed the claims that Mendel's decision was motivated by concern for Israel's national pride and added that if the swimmer had declared that he is going back to Israel and giving up the swimming competition in order to honor his father, that would have sent a much more honorable message to the world.