The Funeral Service and the Interment

The Meaning and Function of the Jewish Funeral... The Location of the Funeral Service...

What is Keriah... Laws and Procedure for the Rending... Who Must Rend the Clothing... When Should the Rending Take Place? ... Which Clothing is Torn... Can a "Mourning Ribbon" be Used? ... Where the Cut is Made... How Long the Rent Garments are Worn...

About the Jewish Funeral Service... Psalm 23: Translation and Commentary... "What is Man?" ... The Kel Maleh Rachamim Memorial Prayer... The Eulogy... Secular Ceremonies... Escorting the Deceased to the Cemetery... Who Should Attend the Funeral... Attending a Non-Jewish Funeral...

Jewish law is unequivocal in establishing absolutely, and uncompromisingly, that the dead must be buried in the earth... The soul rises to G-d, but its physical shelter sinks into the vast reservoir of nature....

Somberness, regret and hesitation... Who Should Carry the Casket... The Processional from the Hearse to the Grave... Psalm 91 and the "Seven Stops"... The Tzidduk HaDin ("Justification of the Divine Decree") prayer... The Burial... The Post-Burial Kaddish...

The Recessional -- Comforting the Mourners at the Graveside... Washing of the Hands...

Purchasing a Plot... The Jewish Grave... The Family Plot... Disinterment and Reinterment...