Funeral & Burial

Jewish practices of burial and death are constructed around a few key ideas: Death is to be confronted, not denied. The dead body is to be accorded the utmost respect. Mourners are to be comforted. We are equal in the face of death. The burial and decay of a body is a natural process which should not be impeded or interrupted.

Photo by Jordan Cassway

Egg-sodus & The Circle of Life

Shared by Chaplain Daniel Coleman | Reading

Including eggs in your seder meal to remind us of the circle of life, and that endings often mark beginnings. [more]

Found In: On the Seder Table, Funeral & Burial, Tisha b'Av & Minor Fast Days

The Pain of Loss: Reflection on the Death of a Child

Shared by Rabbi Irwin Wiener, D.D. |

Reflection on the Death of a Child [more]

Found In: Mourning & Bereavement, Funeral & Burial, Hard Times

Tags: loss of a child, meditation

Burial Service After Miscarriage or Stillbirth

Shared by Rabbi Lewis John Eron | Complete Ceremony

A ceremony incorporating psalms, prayers and comforting support [more]

Found In: Funeral & Burial

Tags: kaddish, loss of a child, miscarriage, Psalm 23, stillbirth

El Maley Rakhamim – feminine version

Prayer

Traditional memorial prayer in which God is asked to shelter the soul of the departed for eternal life [more]

Found In: Funeral & Burial

Tags: el maley rakhamim, Siddur Kol Haneshamah, unveiling, yizkor

El Maley Rakhamim – masculine version

Siddur Kol Haneshamah | Prayer

Traditional memorial prayer in which God is asked to shelter the soul of the departed for eternal life [more]

Found In: Funeral & Burial

Tags: el maley rakhamim, Siddur Kol Haneshamah, unveiling, yizkor

Paths of Fullness: An Interpretation of Psalm 23

By Rabbi Brant Rosen | Reading

A contemporary Jewish poem for mourning and sorrow [more]

Found In: Funeral & Burial

Tags: Psalm 23, Siddur Kol Haneshamah, unveiling, yizkor

Commemorative Acrostics

From Kolot | Ritual Component

Selecting verses from Psalms on the basis of the Hebrew name of the deceased [more]

Found In: Funeral & Burial

Tags: shloshim, unveiling

Kaddish Yatom

Prayer

This traditional prayer for the dead, with its mournful, rhythmic incantation, actually makes no mention of death but rather affirms God's presence in life. It is recited daily by mourners throughout the period of mourning. [more]

Found In: Funeral & Burial

Tags: kaddish, unveiling

Yesh Kochavim: There Are Stars

By Hannah Szenes | Poem

From the Jewish-Hungarian poet most widely known for "Eli, Eli" [more]

Found In: Funeral & Burial

Dignity in Life, Dignity in Death: One Perspective on the Chevra Kaddisha

By Juliet I. Spitzer, MSEd. | Article

A touching view of this uniquely Jewish ritual which accords profound respect to the individual between death and burial [more]