Judaism+Funerals

=Jewish Funeral Traditions and Ceremonies=

Overview
Jewish funeral ceremonies are the quickest and simplest out of every religion. Reform Jewish funerals and Traditional Jewish funerals have differences and similarities. The Jews view on death is that the soul lives on after death and it is traditional that the body of the deceased has to be buried and cannot be cremated. Jewish law mandates a simple pine box, so although you may need to choose a plot, you don't need to concern yourself with elaborate decisions about coffins. Lastly Jewish funerals ban cremation and believe that everyone should be treated the same in the eyes of god.

Cleansing The Body
As soon as the person is found deceased the body is immediately cleansed and the eyes are closed. ore the service begins and the Rabbi reads from the Torah the body is cleansed and the eyes are closed. It is traditional that the body is accompanied by people called Shomerim who are normally close relatives that stay with the body till burial. The body is dressed in white burial shrouds which are purposely kept simple to avoid distinguishing between rich or poor. Men are buried with their prayer shawls (tallits), which are rendered ineffective by cutting off one of the fringes. Jewish funerals are normally done a couple days after the person is pronounced deceased.

The Ceremony
At the beginning of the ceremony Traditional Jews tear the deceased clothes to represent the loss of the relative or loved one. This varies but normally reform Jews tear black cloth instead of the persons clothes. The service begins the same as a Christian funeral. Psalms are read and there is a Eulogy of the person. After the Rabbi is done the immediate family has their own important speech and after their is done the body is wheeled out to the cemetery followed only by very close friends and family. After the coffin is put in the hole the hole the Rabbi reads condolences and reads the ceremonial Kaddish prayer that ends the ceremony. Also see Jewish funeral prayers

Jewish and Muslim funeral similarities and differences
There are so many different ways to compare the two. Jews do not look at the burial as a sad or negative time but a time where they see a Jewish person go to god. Muslim funerals are not the same. They look at death in a different way and believe that it is the end of the cycle of life and you shall be judged by Allah in the gates of heaven. Jews and Muslims also both are strongly against cremation over burial but for two different reasons. Muslims believe that it is unholy to die in ashes while Jews believe all of us should be in pine boxes because we should all be treated the same in the eyes of god. In Muslim funerals the holiest part is the reading of the Takbiir which is saying praise Allah four times. In Judaism the holiest part of the ceremony is the reading of the Kaddish which symbolizes the person going to god. Jews have the Rabbi of the Synogoauge where the dead person was a part of read condolences and the Kaddish. This is a lot like in Islam where there is a Imam who reads both the Salat-Y-Janazah and the holy Takbiir. Another big comparison is the venue in which the two are put to rest. The Jewish ceremony can start in the synogauge or start at the cemetery. In Islam the ceremony at first begins in a public place then in the Mosque then at the cemetery. While immigrant Muslims who live in the western world skip the first step outside in public and usually have most of the cemetery within the mosque. Also see Buddhist funeral prayers