( CNN ) -- With a tiny land mass relative to its 8.2 million residents , the state of Israel is running out of room to bury its dead . So it 's joining an unconventional trend led by other densely packed areas : Instead of burying the dead below the earth , it 's building up . `` The idea is to create cemeteries for multilevel burial , '' says Tuvia Sagiv , who with his partner , Uri Ponger , is the architect behind 30 `` high burial buildings '' planned for the already crowded Yarkon Cemetery outside Tel Aviv . `` There is simply no room . '' Each structure will be 70 feet tall . Together they will make up what is known as a `` vertical cemetery . '' Leading rabbis and the Israeli Ministry of Religious Services have even declared the stacked cemeteries kosher , due namely to clever architecture by Sagiv and team . `` We 're not allowed to cremate the bodies or move the bones , so this is best way . '' Jewish burial law is based in part on a passage in Genesis `` For dust you are -- and to dust you shall return . '' Jewish law stipulates that the dead be buried separately on a layer of dust and earth . So while there is no restriction on multilevel burial , each body must rest on soil . To comply with religious law , the towers of the vertical cemetery structures have pipes filled with dirt inside their columns so that each layer is still technically connected to the ground . `` A body is laid on earth , connected to the earth , '' Sagiv says , `` so the building is full of earth , every body we put inside will be on the earth . '' Despite acceptance by rabbis and the chevra kadisha , Israel 's ultra-Orthodox burial societies , there are some Orthodox Jews who are n't happy with the structures . `` They prefer to do things in a traditional way , '' Sagiv says , but he maintains that his structures are in some ways the most traditional . `` It is the same as thousands of years ago when the Jewish people created burials in caves one on top of the other . '' Today 's vertical structures have terraced sides with plants and landscaping , openings on the sides for fresh air , but coverage for visitors in inclement weather or the beating sun . It provides `` a closeness and a connection between the living and the dead , '' Sagiv says . In Israel , the idea of vertical cemeteries is growing . At the end of November , the chevra kadisha will hold a conference with the Ministry of Religious Services to discuss Jewish burial rules , and specifically vertical cemeteries such as the structures in Yarkon Cemetery . `` The buildings will provide a solution to the problem of lack of burial space for more than the next two decades , '' says Itay Goor , a spokesman for Chevra Kadisha of Greater Tel Aviv . While the idea may seem odd to some , vertical cemeteries already exist where populations are dense and land is scarce , such as in China , Japan , Egypt and even New Orleans , where high waters make burial difficult . Brazil is home to the world 's tallest vertical cemetery , the Memorial Necropole Ecumenica in Santos , which is 32 stories high . In India , the Moksha Tower building will be split up into different sections for the four main religions practiced in Mumbai , and will be even taller .
Israel is joining other population - dense areas to build ` ` vertical cemeteries '' Jewish cemetery does n't allow for cremation . Bangladesh , India , Pakistan also use this type of cemetery .