Dare To Ask Talk And News About Our Differences - This topic has 5 replies, 6 voices, and was last updated 25 years, 7 months ago by
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Is it true that Jews must bury their dead within three days? If so, why? Please explain Jewish customs and beliefs regarding death, re: embalming, autopsy, donating organs, etc. What other cultures and/or religions share similar beliefs and/or rituals?
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Name : CRYSTAL CARTIER, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Disability : Artist/social activist, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Christian, Age : 35+, City : Denver, State : CO, Country : United States, Occupation : Writer/Social worker, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Lower middle class,Jews must bury their dead by the second day after the death occurs (therefore the third day) unless that day happens to be the Sabbath, in which case the burial is postponed one more day. Please remember that this is a 4000-plus-year-old custom, and embalming and other methods of preservation had not been discovered at that time. Quick burial helped prevent desecration of the body through visible decay. Since the Diaspora (the scattering of the Jewish people across the world), one of the major concerns was the afterlife, and how dead Jews would be recognized. From this concern came the concept of a Jewish cemetary – to be a Jewish cemetary under the law, there must be a specified amount of soil from Israel present within the cemetary. Jews who are buried properly in a consecrated Jewish cemetary will be recognized as such when Judgement Day occurs. Any body parts that are missing at that time will remain missing unless they, too, are properly interred in consecrated ground. Jewish cemetaries have a special section set aside for amputated and otherwise removed body parts. Jews may donate blood and other organs if they desire; however, for the above reasons, they may not donate to anyone who is not Jewish, as those parts will then not be buried in properly consecrated soil. This is an ethical issue, and is less open to interpretation for more observant Jews. As a Reform Jew, I donate blood on a regular basis and I am not concerned about who recieves it.
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Name : Karen, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Jewish, Age : 33, City : Denver, State : CO, Country : United States, Occupation : Teacher, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,Burial should be within the first 24 hours after death, but can occur up to 72 hours with reason, such as sabbath, or waiting for mourners to arive from out of town. Traditionaly, no form of mutilation of the body was allowed out of respect for the deceased, and this includes enbalming. Since no enbalming takes place, the time before burial should be kept as short as possible. The body is prepared for burial by first cleaning the body, then wraping it in a burial shroud. No other form of clothing is used. At the funeral, the mourners stay until the casket is lowered into the ground, and then the mourners take a shovel and drop a scoop of soil into the grave. The shovel is then stuck into the ground for the next mourner to use, and is not handed directly from person to person. Although no mutilation is allowed, an autopsy may be performed if is is necesarry for a criminal investigation, or if the information will save a life. The commandment to preserve life (pikuak nefesh) takes precidence over almost all other Jewish law, including burial ritual. This has led to recent decisions not only allowing but encouraging organ donation in all branches of Judaism.
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Name : Larry-Hill22946, Gender : M, Religion : Jewish, City : Huntington Beach, State : CA, Country : United States,It is true that Jews must be buried as quickly as possible (about three days allows relatives to travel to a funeral). Judaism believes in the ‘holiness’ of the person, living or dead. So, after a person dies, someone must sit with them and ‘keep them company.’ It honors the dead person by burying them as quickly as possible. The person is kept whole so that they are whole when the Messiah comes and raises everyone.
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Name : M22296, Gender : F, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Jewish, City : Denver, State : CO, Country : United States, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class,I don’t know about a three-day limit, but Judaism does require a quick burial, quicker than is common for others. Much of the reason is for health and cleanliness. The laws originated at a time when keeping a corpse around was inherently unsanitary. There are also a lot of spiritual reasons, but I’m not really competent to go into it. I don’t know about the autopsy and organ donation. Bodies are, I’m pretty sure, not embalmed. Active measures of euthanasia are prohibited, but it is permissible to withhold some forms of treatment. The body is not viewed, and the casket is typically very plain, unfinished wood. There is a custom of placing small rocks on a gravesite when you visit it instead of flowers. This stems from an arid climate where flowers are not available.
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Name : Jesse-N30800, Gender : M, Religion : Jewish, Age : 40, City : Herzliya, State : NA, Country : Israel, Occupation : engineer, Education level : 4 Years of College,Jewish funeral rituals developed from Scripture. Specific practices may vary depending on the branch of Judaism involved. Much respect is shown to a body. Traditional Judaism holds that the body should be buried quickly to prevent exposing it to possible mockery or insult from enemies or by other means. This is also why coffins are not open for viewing. Deuternonomy 21:23 states that a ‘body shall not remain all night … but … bury him the same day.’ Because of the clear reference here to burial, cremation is forbidden. Most often, the funeral is the day after death unless the Sabbath (Friday night to Saturday night) intervenes, requiring a delay. The body is carefully washed, and someone sits with it, reading Psalms, until the burial. Embalming is not permitted because the blood is part of oneself, which must be buried with the body, not removed and discarded. Also, the body must be allowed the possibility to return to the earth (‘For dust you are and to dust you shall return.’ Gen. 3:19) Embalming might impede this. In special cases, autopsies may be allowed, but after examination all body parts must be buried with the corpse. Unless forbidden by local law, plain wooden coffins buried in the earth are preferred, because natural decomposition can take place. Watertight vaults and anything else designed to preserve the body are discouraged.
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Name : CJL, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : formerly Jewish, Age : 50, City : West Bloomfield, State : MI, Country : United States, Occupation : Consultant, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,
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