NEW YORK (JTA) — The late wife of a Jewish man had her wish granted to have his remains moved to a family-owned plot in a Pittsburgh cemetery.
The body of Howard Tobin was moved Tuesday following a ruling by Allegheny County Judge Lawrence O’Toole that the wife’s wishes outweighed a congregation that opposed moving the remains, The Associated Press reported.
O’Toole made his ruling after hearing arguments on behalf of Tobin’s wife, who died in January, and an attorney for Poale Zedeck, the Orthodox Jewish cemetery north of Pittsburgh where Tobin was buried.
An attorney for Tobin’s widow said her husband was buried in the Orthodox cemetery 45 years ago because his brothers handled the arrangements for the grieving wife.
The widow asked the court to move the body in 2008, in part because the couple were Reform Jews, but the Orthodox cemetery said that violated Jewish burial laws.
Attorneys for the Orthodox cemetery decided not to appeal.
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