CHAPTER SEVEN - Death and Mourning: End of Life Questions

A: BACKGROUND

6. Burial Questions: Honouring the Dead

The principle of - respect for the dead - is very central with respect to the length of time that can pass between death and burial.

Jewish tradition is in favour of a very quick burial; if possible, the burial should take place on the same day as the death. It is considered unseemly and disrespectful towards the dead to delay the burial any more than is absolutely necessary.
On the other hand, kavod hamet can work to delay a burial if, for example, time is needed for some of the close family to get to the place where the dead is being buried. In that case, it is considered potentially dishonourable to the dead person to prevent their being buried with all of their loved ones. This is therefore an example of a value that can work both ways, in terms of the time of burial.

The tradition is to bury a dead person dressed only in a simple shroud. The clothing should not be elaborate, nor should the coffin. There are communities, such as Israel, where the prevalent tradition is to bury without a coffin (unless the body is mutilated). The idea behind this is that bodies return to their natural dust (the desirable cyclical situation – the material side returns to the earth just as the spiritual side returns to G-d) more easily when they are not encased in a coffin. This is in contrast to the prevailing Diaspora practices, which tend to prefer the use of a coffin.

This simplicity of shroud and coffin dates back thousands of years to the time of the Sages of the Mishnah; the reason for it is social consideration for the poor. This is a principle which was frequently invoked, so that the poorer elements of society should not feel embarrassed by their inequality with the rich.

In the Talmud, this principle is applied to the question of burials:

Formerly, they used to bring out the deceased for burial, the rich on a tall bed, ornamented with rich covers, the poor on a plain box. Therefore a law was passed that all should be brought out on a plain box in deference to the poor…
Formerly, the expense of burying the dead was harder for a family to bear than the death itself, so that sometimes, family members fled to escape the expense. This was so until Rabban Gamliel ordered that he be buried in a plain linen shroud instead of expensive garments. Since then, people have been buried in simple shrouds.
Bab. Talmud, Moed Katan 27a-27b

In the Jewish tradition there is a certain democratisation of status in death. The dead body should be accorded the respect due a living person, but it recognises that the respect that people receive in life tends to be in accordance with their social status and, specifically, wealth. The Jewish tradition, being a tradition rooted in the reality of life, integrates this reality; so, in death, an attempt is made to redress the balance and aim for greater equality between people. The approach is that the status people gained in their lives, especially that due to wealth, should not interfere with the status after death.

Isaac Leib Peretz, the famous Yiddish writer of the early twentieth century, turned this insight into one of his most famous stories, Bontche Schweig, “Bontche the Silent”. The story tells of the arrival in Heaven of one of the most luckless of Jews who never had a moment’s pleasure in his earthly life. In Heaven, however, they recognise the inner man and accord him a welcome he never received in his downtrodden life.

Peretz’s story, which includes a certain satirical touch, nevertheless contains a deep truth about the ideals of the manner in which Judaism treats its dead. Funerals and burials, shrouds and coffins: all are intended and designed to be simple, in order to emphasise the inner person - rather than outward possessions. The essence of burial for a Jew is meant to be the same for all: democracy in death.

The body is brought to the graveside with the 91st Psalm, with its theme of G-d’s protection of his creatures being traditionally recited on the way from the cemetery entrance to the graveside. There is also a tradition to stop seven times during the procession, to allow the mourners to consider issues of life and death.

It is also important to mention in this context that cremation is, on the whole, forbidden. The principle often invoked to deny the right of cremation is that of - respect for the dead, the same principle used against mutilation and autopsies. Some authorities do allow it, but it is viewed essentially as a non-Jewish custom and is never encouraged within the Orthodox or the Conservative community. Some of these communities allow the ashes of a cremated person to be buried within their cemeteries; others strictly forbid it. Within Reform Judaism, however, it is considered quite acceptable.