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What To Notice When Appearing At Jewish Funeral Rites

Just like all communities, Jews have certain customs that they observe when they are burying a loved one. The strictness of the customs observed normally depends on whether the family of the deceased are radical Jews or conservative Jews. The customs carried out at a Jewish funeral are meant to provide respect to the dead person as well as the mourners.

Burial is normally carried out within a day when a person dies. The burial may be postponed for another day or two, so as to wait for any close family member who has to travel from a far place to attend the burial. It's totally up to the family to decide whether the burial should be postponed or whether it should go ahead as required by custom.

Open caskets are not allowed at memorial services. The casket chosen should be simple and totally biodegradable. This means that it should be made purely out of wood. Even nails are not allowed, as they are metallic and can't decompose.

Preservation of the body through embalming is not allowed, unless demanded by local laws for health reasons. This is to allow the body to decompose naturally. If the family wishes, they can call a pious society of men and women who have devoted themselves to the task of cleaning and dressing dead bodies as required by tradition.

The burial ceremony does not take a long time. It can be completed in less than half an hour. Flowers are normally considered as frivolous adornments, so they are often avoided at burials. If you wish, you can choose to have a small floral tribute, as long as the officiant is not opposed to it. Mourners cannot talk to the attendees until the whole burial ceremony is over.

When leaving the graveside, attendees at a Jewish funeral form a double line facing each other. The mourners pass in the middle and receive consolation messages from others. Any kind words of comfort are offered at this time. Mourners may symbolically wash their hands before leaving the cemetery as a sign of cleansing.