Rarely, after the explanation of the ritual tradition, have the mourners objected to the practice. ![]() To open the casket and allow people to look at the deceased is to turn the comforters into spectators and the deceased into an “it.” We remember those we loved when they were free and active human beings, not as objects to be observed. The deceased is a mirch v’ayns roch, someone who is seen but who cannot see. I explain that the Jewish tradition is sensitive to the status of the deceased. They claim to have seen it even at Jewish funerals. Harold Schulweis: One of the most commonly asked questions is about the permissibility of a public viewing of the deceased. The Jewish way is to let the photographic image of the best of times be forever blazoned in the memory. The deceased is not dressed in the finest of clothes. Traditional Judaism argues against embalming or performing cosmetic surgery on the body. We hope to remember them as they were in the fullness of their lives–vigorous, hearty, beautiful–not as they often are at the end of their lives: weak, frail, helpless. One of the major goals of Jewish funeral and mourning rituals is to solidify memories of the dead in the minds and hearts of the living. Why is the coffin not opened for viewing at Jewish funerals? The cloth remains on the coffin from the beginning of the service until it is lowered into the grave. It is embroidered with the Hebrew words tzedakah tatzeel mimavet (“charity redeems from death”). ![]() At Valley Beth Shalom, this cloth, called a miktze, is used at funerals of members. What’s that?Īt some funerals, a large cloth, similar to the kind of cloth used to cover the lectern on a synagogue pulpit, is placed over the coffin. I’ve seen the coffin covered with a cloth during the service. In another reflection of differing burial customs, flowers are common at funerals in Israel. If flowers are sent, you might suggest to the funeral director that they be donated to a hospital or nursing home after the service. These charities will let the mourners know of your donation, a more appropriate way to express your solidarity with the family. Instead, sympathizers are encouraged to send donations to favorite charities or to a charity specified by the bereaved family in the obituary notice. Although descriptions of flowers at funerals are found in the Talmud, most rabbis discourage the use of floral decorations at the funeral or on the casket on the grounds that the money spent on such displays is wasted.
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