Funeral
A funeral is a ceremony marking a person's death. Funerary customs comprise the complex of beliefs and practices used by a culture to remember the dead, from the funeral itself, to various monuments, prayers, and rituals undertaken in their honor. These customs vary widely between cultures, and between religious affiliations within cultures. In some cultures the dead are venerated; this is commonly called ancestor worship. The word funeral comes from the Latin funus, which had a variety of meanings, including the corpse and the funerary rites themselves.
Funeral rites are as old as the human race itself.[citation needed] In the Shanidar cave in Iraq, Neanderthal skeletons have been discovered with a characteristic layer of pollen, which suggests that Neanderthals buried the dead with gifts of flowers. This has been interpreted as suggesting that Neanderthals believed in an afterlife, and in any case were aware of their own mortality and were capable of mourning.
Religious funerals
Catholic funerals
A Catholic Funeral refers to the funeral rites specifically in use in the Roman Catholic Church. Within the church, they may also be reffered to as Ecclesiastical Funerals. In Catholic funerals, the church seeks to provide spiritual support for the deceased and honor their bodies, as well as provide a measure of hope for the family and friends of the deceased.
Canons 1176-1185 of the 1983 Code of Canon Law specify the norms for Catholic funerals.[1]
In the years before the Second Vatican Council the rites used were different than those used today.
The Catholic Funeral Mass was called the Requiem Mass - coming from the first line of the Introit used in such Masses: Réquiem, ætérnam dona eis, Dómine; ex lux perpétua lúceat eis. (Eternal rest give to them, O Lord; and let perpetual light shine upon them). Such Masses had a number of differences from other Masses, mainly taking a solemn character. There was much more of a focus on the sinful nature of humanity and the judgment that came at the end of a life. The priest was vested in the liturgical color black, the burning of incense at the Introit and Gospel were omitted, as was the psalm Judica me Deus and the kiss of peace. If a deacon was present to chant the Gospel, the acolytes bearing candles were not used in the Funeral Mass. Additionally no blessing was given. The sequence Dies Iræ, or Day of Wrath was included in the Mass - which spoke of the upcoming ending of the world and the judgment that followed.
The bier holding the body was positioned in the middle of the church. If the decedent was a member of the laity their feet would face the altar. If the decedent was a member of the clergy the body the head would face the altar. [2]
After the Second Vatican Council, a number of the rites associated with a funeral were changed in keeping with the directives of the Concil to reform the liturgy. The Consilium for the Implementation of the Constitution on the Liturgy removed those texts which they felt overemphasized judgment, fear, and despair - feeling that the Funeral Mass should urge hope and faith in the resurrection. [3]
The modern funeral Mass, or Mass of Christian Burial focuses on the fact that rather than ending that life has changed. Instead of the black vestments of previous years, the priest may be vested in white,however black vestements are still permitted as are violet. Texts such as Dies Iræ are no longer used in funeral Masses. The Mass consists of the reception of the body at the church, liturgies of the word and Eucharist, and final committal.[4]
Hindu funerals
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Antyesti or Hindu funeral rites, is an important sacrament of Hindu society. Extensive texts of such rites are available, particularly in the Garuda Purana. There is wide inconsistency in theory and practice, and the procedures differ from place to place. Further, these rites also differ depending on the caste, jāti, social group, and the status of the deceased person.
About 4000 years before, in the Indian subcontinent, human bodies were either exposed to the elements of nature, and to the birds, or buried in the earth, in a river, and sometimes a cave or an urn[citation needed]. Centuries later, cremation became the usual mode of disposal of the dead bodies, with certain exceptions - the exceptions being bodies of infants[citation needed], yogis, sadhus, and a few others. Cremation became popular due to the notion that the soul cannot enter a new body until its former one has totally disappeared, and cremation was considered the fastest way to expeditiously dispose of the dead bodies.
Hindu funeral rites may generally be divided into four stages:
- The rituals and rites to be performed when the person is believed to be on the death bed.
- Rites which accompany the disposal of the dead body.
- Rites which enable the soul of the dead to transit successfully from the stage of a ghost (preta) to the realm of the ancestors, the Pitrs.
- Rites performed in honor of the Pitrs.
Procedures for cremation vary from place to place. Immediately after the death has the body is placed on the floor with the head pointing towards the North which is the direction of the dead. An oil lamp is light and placed near dead body, this lamp is kept burning continuously for the first three days following the death. In Hinduism, the dead body is considered to be symbol of great impurity hence miminal physical contact with the dead body is maintained, perhaps to avoid the spread of infections or germs. Most often the dead body is bathed by purified water, and then dressed in new clothes, if the dead was a male or a widow then generally white clothes are used,whereas if the dead was a married women with her husband still alive or a young unmarried girl, then the body is dressed either in red or yellow. Sacred ash (bhasma) is applied on the forehead of the deceased, especially for the worshippers of Lord Shiva (Saivites), otherwise sandalwood paste is applied on the forehead, if the dead was a worshipper for Lord Vishnu (Vaishnava). Further, few drops of the holy Ganges water may be put into the mouth of the deceased so that the soul may attain liberation, also few leaves of the holy basil (tulsi) are placed on the right side of the dead body. The body then may be adorned with jewels, and placed lying on a stretcher, with the head pointing towards the south, which is the direction of the dead. Sometimes the body may be kept in a sitting position too. The stretcher is adorned with different flowers including roses, jasmine, and marigolds, and the body is almost covered with the flowers. Thereafter, the close relatives of the deceased person carry the stretcher on their shoulders to the cremation ground. If it is located at a distance, the stretcher is placed on a cart pulled by animals like bullocks. Nowadays vehicles are also used.
The cremation ground is called Shmashana (in Sanskrit), and traditionally it is located near a river, if not on the river bank itself. There, a pyre is prepared, on which the corpse is laid with its feet facing southwards, so that it can walk in this direction, as this is the direction of the dead. The jewels, if any, are removed. Thereafter, the chief mourner (generally the eldest son) walks around the pyre three times keeping the body to his left. While walking he sprinkles water and sometimes ghee onto the pyre from a vessel. He then sets the pyre alight with a torch of flame. The beginning of the cremation heralds the start of the traditional mourning period, which usually ends on the morning of the 13th day after death. When the fire consumes the body, which may take a few hours, the mourners return home. During this mourning period the family of the dead are bounded by many rules and regulations of ritual impurity. Immediately after the cremation the entire family is expected to have a bath. One or two days after the funeral, the chief mourner returns to the cremation ground to collect the mortal remains and put them in an urn. These remains are then immersed in a river. Those who can afford it may go to select places like Varanasi, Haridwar, Allahabad, Srirangam and Kanya Kumari to perform this rite of immersion of mortal remains.
The preta-karma is an important aspect of Hindu funeral rites, and its objective is to facilitate the migration of the soul of the dead person from the status of a preta (which is akin to a ghost or spirit) to the abode of the ancestors (that is, the abode of the Pitrs)[citation needed]. It is believed that if this stage of funeral rites is not performed or performed incorrectly, the spirit of the dead person shall become a ghost (bhuta)[citation needed]. The rites generally last for ten or eleven days, at the end of which the preta is believed to join the abode of the ancestors. Thereafter, they are worshipped during the 'shraddha' ceremonies.
If a person dies in a different country, in a war, or drowns, or in any other manner that his body cannot be retrieved for the antyesti, his funeral rites may be performed without the dead body, and similar procedures are followed had the dead body been available. If such a person appears (that is, he has in fact not died), then "resurrection" rituals are mandatory before his being admitted to the world of the living[citation needed].
Islamic funerals
Islamic funeral or funeral rites in Islam is about specific rites followed in Islam for burying the dead.
- Bathing the dead body,[6] except in extraordinary circumstances as in battle of Uhud.[7]
- Enshrouding dead body in coffin cloth.[8]
- Funeral prayer.[9]
- Burial of the dead body in a grave
- Positioning the deceased so that the head is faced towards Mecca
- Burial should normally take place as soon as possible
Bathing of the dead body
The corpse is washed (bathed): The main factor in this step is to physically cleanse the corpse. The method, the style and the accessories used for bathing the corpse may vary from time to time and from place to place. Bathing a corpse, in whatever method, is a part of the Sunnah of the Islamic prophet Muhammad[10], and therefore a part of the Islamic Shari`ah.
Enshrouding the dead body
The corpse is wrapped in a simple plain cloth. The cloth is called 'kafan' and the process 'takfeen'.[11] The main factor in this step is to respectfully wrap the corpse in a cloth so that its private parts are not visible to others. The style of this wrapping and the material and the color of the cloth used for this wrapping may vary from place to place and from time to time. However, the important aspect in the style of wrapping and the material used is that it should be a simple rather than a gaudy style and the cloth used for this purpose should also not be very flashy. It is for this reason that Muslims have generally preferred to use white cotton cloth to serve as 'kafan'. It is allowed to put some perfume on the cloth.
Funeral prayer
The Muslims of the community gather to offer their collective prayers for the forgiveness of the dead. This prayer has been generally termed as the Janazah prayer.[12]
The prayer is offered in a particular way. Like Eid prayer, this prayer is also prayed with extra (four[13]) Takbirs, but there is no Ruku' (bowing) and Sujud (prostrating). Supplication for the deceased and mankind is recited. In extraordinary circumstances, the prayer can be postponed and prayed at a later time as done in the Battle of Uhud.[9] It becomes obligatory for every muslim adult male to perform the funeral prayer upon the death of any muslim, however when it is performed by the few it alleviates that obligation for all.
Burial
The deceased is then taken for burial (al-Dafin). The style of the grave and that of the burial may vary from time to time and place to place. The Islamic directive is restricted to a respectful burial in the ground.
The grave itself should be aligned on a northeast to southwest axis, facing Mecca. The wrapped body is placed directly into the ground, without any kind of casket. This cannot be done in some places because either the soil is too loose or wet, or because of laws. In that case, the shrouded corpse is placed in a dirt-filled concrete vault, in order to keep within the symbolism of the religion and the requirements of the government. Graves are to be raised between four and twelve inches from the ground. This is to prevent anyone from sitting or walking on the grave, which is strictly forbidden. It is forbidden to level the grave, as is the practice of many cemeteries in order to make the sites easier to maintain. These problems have led to the creation of private, all-Muslim cemeteries, or separate sections of cemeteries that allow for the adherence of these many specifications. Graves markers are simple, because outwardly lavish displays are discouraged in Islam. Muslims believe that money spent on such things would be better spent through charity or similar. Many times graves may even be unmarked, or marked only with a simple wreath. However, it is becoming more common for family members to erect grave monuments.
Only men are allowed to attend the actual graveside service[14]. The body is laid on its right side, with the head facing Mecca, and the shroud is removed from the face. Those present at the grave each take their turn in pouring three handfuls of soil into the grave while reciting "We created you from it, and return you into it, and from it we will raise you a second time," Surah 20:55. More prayers are then said, asking for forgiveness of the deceased, and reminding the dead of his or her profession of faith.
After the burial, the Muslims who have gathered to paying their respects to the dead collectively pray for the forgiveness of the dead. This collective prayer is the last formal collective prayer for the dead.
Mourning
Loved ones and relatives are to observe a 3-day mourning period[15]. Mourning is observed in Islam by increased devotion, receiving visitors and condolences, and avoiding decorative clothing and jewelry. Widows observe an extended mourning period (Iddah), 4 months and 10 days long,[16] in accordance with the Qur'an 2:234. During this time, she is not to remarry, move from her home, or wear decorative clothing or jewelry.
Grief at the death of a beloved person is normal, and weeping for the dead is allowed in Islam[17]. It is however prohibited to express grief by wailing (Bewailing refers to mourning in a loud voice), shrieking, beating the chest and cheeks, tearing hair or clothes, breaking objects, scratching faces or speaking phrases that make a Muslim lose faith[18].
Directives for widows
Qur'an prohibits widows to engage themselves for four lunar months and ten days, after the death of their husbands. According to Qur'an:
And those of you who die and leave widows behind, they should keep themselves in waiting for four months and ten days. Then when they have fulfilled their term, there is no blame on you about what they do with themselves in accordance with the norms [of society]. And Allah is well acquainted with what you do. And there is also no blame on you if you tacitly send a marriage proposal to these women or hold it in your hearts. Allah knows that you would definitely talk to them. [Do so] but do not make a secret contract. Of course you can say something in accordance with the norms [of the society]. And do not decide to marry until the law reaches its term. And know that Allah has knowledge of what is in your hearts; so be fearful of Him and know that Allah is Most forgiving and Most Forbearing.(Qur'an 2:234-235)
Islamic scholars consider this directive a balance between mourning of husband's death and protection of widow from censure that she became interested in re-marrying soon after her husband’s death.[19] This is also to ascertain whether a lady is pregnant or not.[20]
Husbands should make a will in favor of their wives for the provision of one year’s residence and maintenance, except if the wives themselves leave the house or take any other similar step. As stated in Qur'an:
And those of you who die and leave widows should bequeath for their widows a year’s provision and [bequeath] that [in this period] they shall not be turned out of their residences; but if they themselves leave the residence, there is no blame on you for what they do with themselves according to the norms of society. And Allah is Exalted in Power, Wise.(Qur'an 2:240)
Jewish funerals
Bereavement in Judaism (Hebrew: אבלות, Standard aveilut Tiberian "mourning") is a combination of minhag ("traditional custom") and mitzvot ("commandments") derived from Judaism's classical Torah and rabbinic texts. The details of observance and practice vary according to each Jewish community.
Upon receiving news of the passing
Upon the time of the passing, or when receiving the news of the passing, the following blessing is recited:
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- Transliteration: Barukh ata Adonai Eloheinu melekh ha‑olam, Dayan h'emet.
- Translation: "Blessed are You, LORD, our God, King of the universe, the True Judge."
Chevra kadisha
A chevra kadisha (חברה קדישא "holy group") acting as a burial society is a loosely structured, but generally closed, organization of Jewish men and women who ensure the bodies of Jews are prepared for burial according to Jewish law, and that the bodies of the deceased are protected from desecration, willful or not, until burial. Two of the main requirements are the showing of proper respect for the body of the deceased, and the ritual cleansing of the body and dressing for burial.
Many local chevra kadishas in urban areas are affiliated with local synagogues, and they often own their own burial plots in various local cemeteries. Some Jews pay an annual token membership fee to the chevra kadisha of their choice, so that when the time comes, the society will not only attend to the body of the deceased as befits Jewish law, but will also ensure burial in a plot that it controls at an appropriate nearby Jewish cemetery.
If no gravediggers are available, then it is additionally the function of the male society members to ensure that graves are dug. In Israel, members of chevra kadishas consider it an honor to not only to prepare the body for burial but also to dig the grave for a fellow Jew's body, particularly if the deceased was known to be a righteous person.
Many burial societies hold one or two annual fast days and organize regular study sessions to remain up to date with the relevant articles of Jewish law. In addition, most burial societies also support families during the shiva (traditional week of mourning) by arranging prayer services, preparing meals, and providing other services for the mourners.
Preparing the body—Taharah
There are three major stages to preparing the body for burial: washing (rechitzah), ritual purification (taharah), and dressing (halbashah). The term taharah is used to refer both to the overall process of burial preparation, and to the specific step of ritual purification.
The general sequence of steps for performing taharah is as follows. Blessings, prayers, and readings from Torah, Psalms and other Jewish scripture may be recited at several points:
- The body (guf) is uncovered. (It has been covered with a sheet awaiting taharah.)
- The body is washed carefully. As all blood must be buried along with the deceased, any open bleeding is stopped. The body is thoroughly cleaned of dirt, body fluids and solids, and anything else that may be on the skin. All jewelry is removed.
- The body is purified with water, either by immersion in a mikvah or by pouring a continuous stream in a prescribed manner.
- The body is dried (according to most customs).
- The body is dressed in traditional burial clothing (tachrichim). A sash (avnet) is wrapped around the clothing and tied in the form of the Hebrew letter "shin," representing one of the names of God.
- The coffin (aron) (if there is a coffin) is prepared by removing any linings or other embellishments. A sheet (sovev) is laid into the coffin. Outside the Land of Israel, if the person wore a prayer shawl (tallit) during their life, one is laid in the coffin for wrapping the body once it is placed there. One of the corner fringes (tzitzit) is removed from the shawl to signify that it will no longer be used for prayer in life.
- The body is then lifted into the coffin and wrapped in the prayer shawl and sheet. Soil from Israel (afar), if available, is placed over various parts of the body and sprinkled in the coffin.
- The coffin is closed.
Once the body is dressed, the coffin is sealed. Unlike other religions, in Judaism there is traditionally no viewing of the body and no "open casket" at the funeral, though the immediate family is allowed a visitation right prior to the coffin being sealed to pay their final respects to the deceased. One slight exception is that some Jews of German extraction ("Yekkes") will slide open the coffin on the side where the feet are located, and the closest relative places a sort of a sock on one of the feet.
In Israel many do not use caskets at all, following the Eastern European custom, but rather wrap the body in thicker white shrouds. The body is carried to the grave covered on the outside by a tallit.
Once the coffin is closed, the chevra then asks for forgiveness from the deceased for anything that they may have done to offend them or not show proper respect during the taharah. If the body is not taken immediately for burial, guards or watchers (shomrim) sit with the coffin until it is taken for burial. It is traditional to recite Psalms during this time.
Funeral service
In the United States and Canada, a Jewish funeral service usually commences officially at a funeral home (and occasionally a synagogue or temple) for an ordinary Jew, and from there the mourners and their entourage proceed to a Jewish cemetery for the burial. In the case of a more prominent person, such as a well-known communal leader, rabbi, rebbe, or rosh yeshiva, the entire service with eulogies can be held at the synagogue or yeshiva that the deceased was affiliated with.
Eulogies
A hesped is a eulogy, and it is common that several people speak at the start of the ceremony at the funeral home, as well as prior to burial at the gravesite, though some people specify in their wills that nothing should be said about them. On certain days, such as on Chol HaMo'ed ("intermediate days" of Jewish holidays), eulogies are forbidden.
Burial
Kevura, or burial, should take place as soon as possible after death. The Torah requires burial as soon as possible, even for executed criminals [21]. This means that burial will usually take place on the same day as death, or, if not possible, the next day.
This custom probably originated from the fact that Israel was, and is, a country with a hot climate. In Biblical times, there were few ways of keeping the dead body from decomposing. Not only would this be generally undesirable, but allowing the dead body of any person to decompose would be showing that person great disrespect. Decomposition would have occurred especially quickly in Israel due to the constant heat. Thus, the custom of burying the body as soon as possible. (Although the practice of embalming and mummification had advanced to a high level in Egypt, this, too, is considered disrespectful, since it involves a great deal of manipulation and the removal of bodily organs.)
Respect for the dead can be seen from many examples in the Torah and Tanakh. For example, one of the last events in the Torah is the death of Moses when God himself buries him: "[God] buried him in the depression in the land of Moab, opposite Beth Peor. No man knows the place that he was buried, even to this day." (Deuteronomy 34:6) [22]
Additionally, the Cave of the Patriarchs, the spiritual center of Hebron, which was the first capital city of the Kingdom of Israel in the time of King David, is called Me'arat HaMakhpela (מערת המכפלה) in Hebrew, which means "The Cave of the double caves or tombs." This is because the cave's hidden twin caves are considered in Jewish tradition to be the burial place of four "pairs" of important Biblical couples: Adam and Eve, Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, and Jacob and Leah.
Unclaimed dead (met mitzvah) require respectful burial.
Typically, when the funeral service has ended, the mourners (excluding the immediate family[citation needed]) come forward to fill the grave. Symbolically, this gives the mourners closure as they observe the grave being filled in. One custom is for people present at the funeral to take a spade or shovel, held pointing down instead of up, to show the antithesis of death to life and that this use of the shovel is different from all other uses, to throw three shovelfuls of dirt into the grave. When someone is finished, they put the shovel back in the ground, rather than handing it to the next person, so that they shouldn't pass along their grief.
While the grave is being filled in, some Jews may throw in a handful of earth from Israel on the dead body.[citation needed]
Mourning
Keriah and shiva
The mourners traditionally make a tear (keriah קריעה) in an outer garment either before the funeral or immediately after it. The tear should be on the left side for a parent (over the heart and clearly visible) and on the right side for brothers, sisters, children and spouses (and does not need to be visible).
If a son or daughter of the deceased needs to change clothes during the shiva period, he or she must tear the changed clothes. No other family member is required to rend changed clothes during shiva. Neither son nor daughter may ever sew the rent clothes, but any other mourner may mend the clothing 30 days after the burial. [1]
When they get home, the mourners do not shower or bathe for a week, do not wear leather shoes and/or jewelry, men do not shave, and in many communities large wall mirrors in the mourners' home are covered. It is customary for the mourners to sit on low stools or even the floor, symbolic of the emotional reality of being "brought low" by the grief. The meal of consolation (seudat havra'ah), the first meal eaten on returning from the funeral, traditionally consists of hard boiled eggs and other round or oblong foods. This is often credited to the Biblical story of Jacob purchasing the birthright from Esau with stewed lentils; it is traditionally stated that Jacob was cooking the lentils soon after the death of his grandfather, Abraham.
During this time distant family and friends come to visit or call the mourners to comfort them via "shiva calls."
Commencing and calculating the seven days of mourning
If the mourner returns from the cemetery after the burial before sundown then the day of the funeral is counted as the first of the seven days of mourning. Mourning generally concludes in the morning of the seventh day. No mourning may occur on Shabbat (the Jewish Sabbath), nor may the burial take place on Shabbat, but the day of Shabbat does count as one of the seven days. If a Jewish holiday occurs after the first day, that curtails the mourning period. If the funeral occurs during a festival, the start of the mourning period awaits the end of the festival. Some holidays, such as Rosh Hashanah, cancel the mourning period completely.
Stages of mourning
Aninut
The first stage of mourning is aninut, or "[intense] mourning." An onen (a person in aninut) is considered to be in a state of total shock and disorientation. Thus the onen is exempt from performing mitzvot that require action (and attention), such as praying and reciting blessings, wearing tefillin (phylacteries), in order to be able to tend unhindered to the funeral arrangements.
Aninut lasts until the burial is over, or, if a mourner unable to attend the funeral, from the moment he is no longer involved with the funeral itself.
Avelut
Aninut is immediately followed by avelut ("mourning"). An avel ("mourner") does not listen to music or go to concerts, and does not attend any joyous events or parties such as marriages or Bar or Bat Mitzvahs, unless absolutely necessary. (If the date for such an event has already been set prior to the death, it is strictly forbidden for it to be postponed or canceled.)
Avelut consists of three distinct periods.
Shiva – Seven days
The first stage of avelut is shiva (Hebrew: שבעה ; "seven"), a week-long period of grief and mourning. Observance of shiva is referred to by English-speaking Jews as "sitting shiva." During this period, mourners traditionally gather in one home and receive visitors.
It is considered a great mitzvah (commandment) of kindness and compassion to pay a home visit to the mourners. Traditionally, no greetings are exchanged and visitors wait for the mourners to initiate conversation. The mourner is under no obligation to engage in conversation and may, in fact, completely ignore his visitors.
There are various customs as to what to say when taking leave of the mourner(s). One of the most common is to say to them:
- המקום ינחם אתכם בתוך שער אבילי ציון וירושלים
- Hamakom y'nachem etkhem b'tokh sha'ar avelei tziyon viyrushalayim:
- "May The Omnipresent comfort you among [all the] other mourners for Zion and Jerusalem."
Depending on their community's customs, others may also add such wishes as: "You should have no more tza'ar ('pain')" or "You should have only simchas ('celebrations')" or "we should hear only good news (besorot tovot) from each other" or "I wish you long life."
Traditionally, prayer services are organised in the house of mourning. It is customary for the family to lead the services themselves.
Shloshim – Thirty days
The thirty-day period following the death (including shiva) is known as shloshim (Hebrew: שלושים ; "thirty"). During shloshim, a mourner is forbidden to marry or to attend a seudat mitzvah ("religious festive meal"). Men do not shave or get haircuts during this time.
Since Judaism teaches that a deceased person can still benefit from the merit of mitzvot (deeds commanded by God) done in their memory, it is considered a special privilege to bring merit to the departed by learning Torah in their name. A popular custom is to coordinate a group of people who will jointly study the complete Mishnah during the shloshim period.
Shneim asar chodesh – Twelve months
Those mourning a parent additionally observe a twelve-month period (Hebrew: שנים עשר חודש, shneim asar chodesh ; "twelve months"), counted from the day of death. During this period, most activity returns to normal, although the mourners continue to recite the mourner's kaddish as part of synagogue services for eleven months, and there remain restrictions on attending festive occasions and large gatherings, especially where live music is played.
Matzevah (Unveiling of the tombstone)
A headstone (tombstone) is known as a matzevah ("monument"). Although there is no Halakhic obligation to hold an unveiling ceremony, the ritual became popular in many communities toward the end of the 19th century. There are varying customs about when it should be placed on the grave. Most communities have an unveiling ceremony a year after the death. Some communities have it earlier, even a week after the burial. In Israel it is done after the "sheloshim," the first thirty days of mourning. There is no restriction about the timing, other than the unveiling cannot be held during certain periods such as Passover or Chol Ha'Moed.
At the end of the ceremony, a cloth or shroud covering that has been placed on the headstone is removed, customarily by close family members. Services include reading of several psalms (1, 24, 23, 103), Mourners Kaddish (if a minyan is available), and the prayer "El Malei Rachameem." The service may include a brief eulogy for the deceased.
Annual remembrances
Yahrtzeit
Yahrtzeit, יאָרצײַט, means "Time (of) Year" in Yiddish [2]. (Alternative spellings include yortsayt (using the YIVO standard Yiddish orthography), Yohr Tzeit, yahrzeit, and yartzeit.) The word is also used by non-Yiddish-speaking Ashkenazi Jews, and refers to the annual anniversary of the day of death of a relative. Yahrtzeit literally means "time of [one] year."
The commemoration is known in Ladino as nahala. It is widely observed, and based on the Jewish tradition that mourners are required to commemorate the death of a relative.
Mourners required to fulfill this observance are the children, siblings, spouses and parents of the deceased. The custom is first discussed in detail in Sefer HaMinhagim (pub. 1566) by Rabbi Isaac Tyrnau.
The date of the Yahrtzeit is determined by the Hebrew calendar, and falls annually on the Hebrew date of the deceased relatives death.
The main halakhic obligation is to recite the mourner's version of the Kaddish prayer three times (evening, morning, and afternoon), and many attend synagogue for the evening, morning, and afternoon services on this day. (During the morning prayer service the mourner's Kaddish is recited at least four times.) As a widely practiced custom, mourners also light a special candle that burns for 24 hours, called a "Yahrzeit candle."
Lighting a yahrtzeit candle in memory of a loved one is a minhag ("custom") that is deeply ingrained in Jewish life honoring the memory and souls of the deceased.
Strict Jewish law requires that one should fast on the day of a parent's Yahrzeit, although this is not required, some people do observe the custom of fasting on the day of the Yahrtzeit. Among many Orthodox Jews it has become customary to make a siyum by completing a tractate of Talmud or a volume of the Mishnah on the day prior to the Yahrtzeit, in the honor of the deceased. A halakha requiring a siyum ("celebratory meal"), upon the completion of such a study, overrides the requirement to fast.
Jewish mourners are required to commemorate the death of a first-relative: mother, father, brother, or sister. The main halakhic obligation is to recite the mourner's version of the Kaddish prayer at least three times Maariv at the evening services, Shacharit at morning services, and Mincha at the afternoon services.
Many synagogues will have lights on a special memorial plaque on one of the synagogue's walls, with names of synagogue members who have died. Each of these lights will be lit for individuals on their Yahrzeit, and all the lights will be lit for a Yizkor service. Some synagogues will also turn on all the lights for memorial days, such as Yom Ha'Shoah.
Visiting the gravesite
Some have a custom to visit the cemetery on fast days (Shulchan Aruch Orach Chayim 559:10) and before Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur (581:4, 605), when possible, and for a Yahrzeit.
Typically, even when visiting Jewish graves of someone that the visitor never knew, he or she would leave a small stone at the graveside. This shows that someone had visited, and represents permanence. Leaving flowers is not a traditional Jewish practice. Another reason for leaving stones is tending the grave. In Biblical times, gravestones were not used; graves were marked with mounds of stones, so by placing (or replacing) them, one perpetuated the existence of the site. This was also helpful for Cohanim, who needed to avoid spiritual impurity that could be passed on by corpses/graves.
Memorial through prayer
Mourner's Kaddish
Kaddish Yatom (heb. קדיש יתום lit. "Orphan's Kaddish") or the "Mourner's" Kaddish, said at all prayer services, as well as at funerals and memorials. Customs for reciting the Mourner's Kaddish vary markedly among various communities. In most Ashkenazi synagogues, particularly Orthodox ones, it is customary that everyone in the synagogue stands. In Sephardi synagogues, the custom is that only the mourners themselves stand and chant, while the rest of the congregation sits, chanting only responsively.
Yizkor
Yizkor ("remembrance") prayers are recited by those that have lost either one or both of their parents. There is a custom that those who do not recite the Yizkor prayers leave the synagogue until the completion of Yizkor; the symbolic reason for this is to respect the life of one's living parents. Some rabbinic authorities regard this custom as a superstition.
The Yizkor prayers are recited four times a year, and are intended to be recited in a synagogue with a minyan; if one is unable be with a minyan, one can recite it without one. These four Yizkor services are held on Yom Kippur, Shmini Atzeret, on the eighth day of Passover in most of the world (in Israel on the seventh), and on the second day of Shavuot (in Israel on the only day of Shavuot). In the Yizkor prayers God is asked to remember and grant repose to the souls of the departed.
In Sephardic custom there is no Yizkor prayer, but Hashkabóth are recited on Yom Kippur for all members of the community who have died during the last year. A person called up to the Torah may also request the reader to recite Hashkabah for his deceased parents.
Av HaRachamim
Av Harachamim is a Jewish memorial prayer that was written in the late 11th or early 12th Century, after the destruction of the Ashkenazi communities around the Rhine River by Christian crusaders during the First Crusade.
Communal responses to death
Zihuy Korbanot Asson (ZAKA)
ZAKA (heb. זק"א abbr. for Zihuy Korbanot Asson lit. "Identifying Victims of Disaster" – חסד של אמת Hessed shel Emet lit. "True Kindness" – איתור חילוץ והצלה), is a community emergency response team in the State of Israel, officially recognized by the government. The organization was founded in 1989. Members of ZAKA, most of whom are Orthodox, assist ambulance crews, identify the victims of terrorism, road accidents and other disasters and, where necessary, gather body parts and spilled blood for proper burial. They also provide first aid and rescue services, and help with the search for missing persons. In the past they have responded in the aftermath of disasters around the world.
Hebrew Free Burial Association (HFBA)
The Hebrew Free Burial Association is a non-profit agency whose mission is to ensure that all Jews receive a proper Jewish burial, regardless of their financial ability. Since 1888, more than 55,000 Jews have been buried by HFBA in their cemeteries located on Staten Island, New York, Silver Lake Cemetery and Mount Richmond Cemetery.
Controversy following death
Donating organs
Being an organ donor is permitted according to all Jewish denominations once death has been clearly established, provided that instructions have been left in a written living will. Orthodox and Haredi Jews would consult their rabbis before making the final choice and decision.
Jewish view of cremation
Halakha (Jewish law) forbids cremation. Burial is considered the only proper form of disposal for a Jewish person who has died (and is the only method used in the Tanakh), and is seen in Judaism as providing a final measure of atonement for the deceased.
From a philosophical and ritual standpoint, as with a geneza, Jews bury things as an honorable "interment," and would only burn things as a means of destruction.
Suicide
Judaism considers suicide to be a form of "self-murder" and thus a Jew who commits suicide is denied some important after-death privileges: no eulogies should be held for that person, and burial in the main section of the Jewish cemetery is normally not allowed.
However, in recent times, most people who commit suicide have been deemed to be the unfortunate victims of depression or of a serious mental illness. Under this interpretation, their act of "self-murder" is not deemed to be a voluntary act of self-destruction, but rather the result of an involuntary condition. They have therefore been looked upon as having died of causes beyond their control.
Additionally, the Talmud (in Semakhot, one of the minor tractates) recognizes that many elements of the mourning ritual exist as much for the living survivors as for the dead, and that these elements ought to be carried out even in the case of the suicide. Furthermore, if reasonable doubt exists that the death may not have been suicide (e.g. if it is unknown whether the victim fell or jumped off a building), the benefit of the doubt is given and regular burial and mourning rituals take place. Lastly, the suicide of a minor is considered a result of a lack of understanding ("da'at"), and in such a case, regular mourning is observed.
Tattoos
While Halakha (Jewish law) forbids tattoos, there is a common myth that Jews with tattoos are not permitted to be buried in Jewish cemeteries. This is not true, and a Jew with a tattoo would receive a normal funeral service. [23]
Death of an apostate Jew
There is no mourning for an Apostate Jew according to Jewish law. (See that article for a discussion of precisely what actions and motivations render a Jew an "apostate.")
In the past several centuries, the custom developed among Ashkenazic Orthodox Jews (including Hassidic and Haredi Jews), that the family would "sit shiva" if and when one of their relatives would leave the fold of traditional Judaism. The definition of "leaving the fold" varies within communities; some would sit shiva if a family member married a non-Jew; others would only sit shiva if the individual actually converted to another faith, and even then, some would make a distinction between those who chose to do so of their own will, and those who were pressured into conversion. (In Sholom Aleichem's Tevye, when the title character's daughter converts to Christianity to marry a Christian, Tevye sits shiva for her and generally refers to her as "dead.") At the height of the Mitnagdim (i.e. anti-Hassidic) movement, in the early-to-mid nineteenth century, some Mitnagdim even sat shiva if a family member joined Hassidism. (It is said that when Leibel Eiger joined Hassidism, his father, Rabbi Shlomo Eiger sat shiva, but his grandfather, the famed Rabbi Akiva Eiger, did not.) By the mid-twentieth century, however, Hassidism was clearly recognized by everyone as a valid form of Orthodox Judaism, and thus the (controversial) practice of sitting shiva for those who realign to Hassidism ceased to exist.
Today, some Orthodox Jews, particularly the more traditionalist ones (such as many Haredi and Hassidic communities), continue the practice of sitting shiva for a family member who has left the religious community. Many centrist and left-wing Orthodox Jews, however, question and may not observe the practice for three reasons. First, as a matter of practicality, declaring the family member "dead" is a very harsh act that could make it much more difficult for the family member to return to traditional practice if/when s/he would consider doing so. Second, the definition of actively "leaving the fold" is rather vague today, especially with the majority of Jews today being not religiously observant of Orthodox Judaism. Third, recent scholarship has shown that the source of the original custom, a story published in the twelfth century by Rabbi Isaac ben Moses of Vienna in Or Zarua regarding Rabbi Gershom ben Judah, contained a typo and was thus misunderstood. Rabbi Gershom had a son who had converted to Christianity. A text that had been read as, "Rabbi Gershom sat shiva for his son when he converted [Heb. k'she-nishtamed]," turned out to have been "Rabbi Gershom sat shiva for his son who had converted [Heb. she-nishtamed]," i.e. when the son actually died years later of natural causes.[24]
Death of an infant
For a child under the age of 30 days, no shiva is sat. This is because in times past with infant mortality being what it was, a child under the age of 30 days was not yet considered viable.[citation needed]
Stricter communities hold that the child cannot[citation needed] be mourned in a traditional manner of sitting shiva. Understandably, this is very difficult for the family (although at the time it was meant to ease the burden on the family), and is not followed by less traditional Jewish sects.
The Holocaust
During the Holocaust, massive crematoria were constructed and operated round-the-clock by the Nazis within their concentration and extermination camps to dispose of the bodies of thousands of Jews and others. The bodies of thousands of Jews were thus disposed of in a manner deeply offensive to Judaism. Since then, cremation has carried an extremely negative connotation for many Jews, even more so than it had previously.
Sikh funerals
In Sikhism death is considered a natural process. An event that has absolute certainty and only happens as a direct result of God's Will or Hukam. To a Sikh, birth and death are closely associated, because they are both part of the cycle of human life of "coming and going" ( ਆਵਣੁ ਜਾਣਾ , Aana Jaana) which is seen as transient stage towards Liberation ( ਮੋਖੁ ਦੁਆਰੁ , Mokh Du-aar), complete unity with God. Sikhs thus believe in reincarnation.
However, by contrast, the soul itself is not subject to the cycle of birth and death.[citation needed] Death is only the progression of the soul on its journey from God, through the created universe and back to God again. In life, a Sikh always tries to constantly remember death so that he or she may be sufficiently prayerful, detached and righteous to break the cycle of birth and death and return to God.
The public display of grief at the funeral or Antam Sanskar as it is called in the Sikh culture, such as wailing or crying out loud is discouraged and should be kept to a minimum. Cremation is the preferred method of disposal, although if this is not possible any other methods such as burial or submergence at sea are acceptable. Worship of the dead with gravestones, etc. is discouraged, because the body is considered to be only the shell and the person's soul is their real essence.
On the day of the cremation, the body is taken to the Gurdwara or home where hymns (Shabads) from the SGGS, the Sikh Scriptures are recited by the congregation, which induce feeling of consolation and courage. Kirtan may also be performed by Ragis while the relatives of the deceased recite "Waheguru" sitting near the coffin. This service normally takes from 30 to 60 minutes. At the conclusion of the service, an Ardas is said before the coffin is taken to the cremation site.
At the point of cremation, a few more Shabads may be sung and final speeches are made about the deceased person. Then the Kirtan Sohila, night time prayer is recited and finally Ardas called the "Antim Ardas" ("Final Prayer") is offered. The eldest son or a close relative generally starts the cremation process – light the fire or press the button for the burning to begin. This service usually lasts about 30 to 60 minutes.
The ashes are later collected and disposed by immersing them in the nearest river. Sikhs do not erect monuments over the remains of the dead.[citation needed]
After the cremation ceremony, there may be another service at the Gurdwara, the Sikh place of worship, call the Sahaj Paath Bhog Ceremony but this is optional.
Funerals in Japan
A Japanese funeral includes a wake, the cremation of the deceased, a burial in a family grave, and a periodic memorial service. 99% of all deceased Japanese are cremated.[citation needed] Most of these are then buried in a family grave, but scattering of the ashes has become more popular in recent years, including a burial at sea and even on rare occasions a burial in space. The average cost for a Japanese funeral is 4 million yen, the most expensive in the world. One main reason for the high cost is the scarcity of funeral plots (it is almost impossible to buy a grave in Tokyo). Another reason is the price gouging common at Japanese funeral homes, combined with the hesitation of the relatives of the deceased to negotiate and to compare prices.
Modern funerals
After death
While Japan has a mixture of Shinto and Buddhist beliefs, funerals are almost always Buddhist ceremonies, and 90% of the funerals are Buddhist style. After death, the deceased's lips are moistened with water, in a ceremony called Matsugo-no-mizu ("Water of the last moment"). The household shrine is closed and covered with a white paper, to keep out the impure spirits of the dead. This is called Kamidana-fuji. A small table decorated with flowers, incense, and a candle is placed next to the deceased's bed. A knife may be put on the chest of the deceased to drive away evil spirits.
The relatives and the authorities are informed and a death certificate is issued. Organization of the funeral is usually the responsibility of the eldest son. A temple is contacted to schedule a funeral. It is believed by some that certain days are better for a funeral than others. For example, some days are known as tomobiki, literally "friend pulling," which is great for weddings, but to be avoided for funerals, as nobody wants to follow a dead person into the grave. The body is washed and the orifices are blocked with cotton or gauze. The last clothes are usually a suit for males and a kimono for females. A kimono for men is also sometimes used, but is less common. Make-up may also be applied to improve the appearance of the body. The body is put on dry ice in a casket, and a white kimono, sandals, six coins for the crossing of the River of three hells, and burnable items the deceased was fond of (for example, cigarettes and candy) are placed in the casket. The casket is then put on an altar for the wake. The body is placed with the head towards the north or, as a second choice, towards the west.
Wake
While in former times white clothes were worn for funerals, nowadays all guests for the funeral wear black. Men wear a black suit with a white shirt and a black tie, and women wear either a black dress or a black kimono. The black is of a special pitch-black shade. A Buddhist prayer bead called juzu (数珠) may be carried by the guests. A guest will bring condolence money in a special black and silver decorated envelope. Depending on the relation to the deceased and the wealth of the guest, this may be of a value equivalent to between 5,000 and 30,000 yen. The guests are seated, with the next of kin closest to the front. The Buddhist priest will read a sutra. The family members will each in turn offer incense three times to the incense urn in front of the deceased. The wake ends once the priest has completed the sutra. Each departing guest is given a gift, which has a value of about half or one quarter of the condolence money received from this guest. The closest relatives may stay and keep vigil with the deceased overnight in the same room.
Funeral
The funeral is usually on the day after the wake. The procedure is similar to the wake, and incense is offered while a priest chants a sutra. The ceremony differs slightly as the deceased receives a new Buddhist name (kaimyō). This name supposedly prevents the return of the deceased if his name is called. The length and prestige of the name depend also on the size of the donation of the relatives to the temple, which may range from a cheap and free name to the most elaborate names for 1 million yen or more. The high prices charged by the temples are a controversial issue in Japan, especially since some temples put pressure on families to buy a more expensive name. The kanji for these kaimyō are usually very old and rarely used ones, and few people nowadays can read them. At the end of the funeral ceremony, flowers may be placed in the casket before it is sealed and carried to the elaborately decorated hearse and transported to the crematorium. In some regions of Japan, the coffin is nailed shut by the mourners using a stone.
Cremation
The coffin is placed on a tray in the crematorium. The family witnesses the sliding of the body into the cremation chamber. A cremation usually takes about two hours, and the family returns at a scheduled time when the cremation has been completed. The relatives pick the bones out of the ashes and transfer them to the urn using chopsticks, two relatives sometimes holding the same bone at the same time with their chopsticks (or, according to some sources, passing the bones from chopsticks to chopsticks). This is the only time in Japan when it is proper for two people to hold the same item at the same time with chopsticks. At all other times, holding anything with chopsticks by two people at the same time, or passing an item from chopsticks to chopsticks will remind all bystanders of the funeral of a close relative and is considered to be a major social faux pas. The bones of the feet are picked up first, and the bones of the head last. This is to ensure that the deceased is not upside down in the urn. The hyoid bone (a bone located in the neck) is the most significant bone to be put in the urn.
In some cases, the ashes may be divided between more than one urn, for example if part of the ashes are to go to a family grave, and another part to the temple, or even to a company grave or a burial in space. Many companies, for example, have company graves for their employees in the largest Japanese graveyard on Mount Kōya.
Depending on the local custom the urn may stay at the family home for a number of days, or be taken directly to the graveyard.
Grave
A typical Japanese grave is usually a family grave (Japanese: haka) consisting of a stone monument, with a place for flowers, incense, and water in front of the monument and a chamber or crypt underneath for the ashes.
The date of the erection of the grave and the name of the person who purchased it may be engraved on the side of the monument. The names of the deceased are often but not always engraved on the front of the monument. When a married person dies before his or her spouse, the name of the spouse may also be engraved on the stone, with the letters painted red. After the death and the burial of the spouse the red ink is removed from the stone. This is usually done for financial reasons, as it is cheaper to engrave two names at the same time than to engrave the second name when the second spouse dies. It can also be seen as a sign that they are waiting to follow their spouse into the grave. However, this practice is less frequent nowadays. The names of the deceased may also be engraved on the left side, or on a separate stone in front of the grave. Often, the name is also written on a sotoba, a separate wooden board on a stand behind or next to the grave. These sotoba may be erected shortly after death, and new ones may be added at certain memorial services.
Some graves may also have a box for business cards, where friends and relatives visiting the grave can drop their business card, informing the caretakers of the grave of the respects the visitors have paid to the deceased.
Memorial services
Memorial services depend on local customs. Usually, there are a number of memorial services following the death - for example, daily for the first seven days, or a number of services within the first 49 days, or on the 7th, 49th and 100th day, depending on the local custom. After that, there is a memorial service on the Obon festival in honor of the dead. The festival may be held in the 1st year, sometimes in the 3rd and 5th, 7th and 13th years, and a number of times afterwards up to either the 39th or the 50th year. One popular sequence follows the days of the Thirteen Buddhas.
A picture of the deceased is also placed at or near the family altar in the household. Also, in the first year after death, no traditional New Year's Day Postcard is sent or received. The friends and relatives have to be informed of this beforehand so as not to send a card.
Japanese funeral industry
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Funerals in Japan are among the most expensive funerals in the world. The average cost of a Japanese funeral is about 1.5 million yen (USD 14,000) according to a 2003 study by the Japan Consumer's Association, though other sources state 3.8 million yen. This cost does not include mandatory additional services such as about 380,000 yen for the wake, or 480,000 yen for the services of the priest. Overall, the industry has a revenue of about 1.5 trillion yen with about 45,000 funeral homes. In 2004, 1.1 million Japanese died (2003: 1.0 million), a number that is expected to rise in the future due to the increase of the average age in Japan; see demographics of Japan. Funeral Business Monthly estimates that there will be 1.7 million deaths by 2035, and revenue of 2 trillion yen in 2040.
There are a number of reasons for the high cost of funerals. First, prices in Japan are generally among the highest in the world. A bigger reason, however, is that the relatives of the deceased are very hesitant to negotiate prices of a funeral service, and also do not compare prices, as they do not want to give the opinion that they are cheap about their relative. This situation is abused by funeral companies, which sell rather expensive and often-unspecific packages, matched more to the funds of the deceased family than to the actual services provided. Often, aggressive sales tactics push the relatives towards expensive contracts. In many cases, there is not even the mentioning of a price until the funeral is over. A 2005 Fair Trade Commission study found that 36% of the customers did not receive a quote before being charged and 96% felt that the free selection of services was inadequate, and many decisions were made for them. 54.4% of the funeral services offered price lists and catalogs to choose between different options.
This cartel-like system often involves lots of bribes and price fixing between the funeral home and the florists, priests, etc., who forward part of their fees to the funeral home for being recommended by the funeral home. A kick back also often goes to the hospital where the deceased died for forwarding the business to the funeral home. Additional costs (for example for additional mourners) and no refunds (for cancellations of prepaid accounts) are also frequent. Overall, the situation is comparable to the situation in the USA in the 1970 (see The American Way of Death by Jessica Mitford).
Recently there have been some changes in the funeral industry, and some funeral homes offer more competitive and transparent pricing than a standard funeral provider. These offer funerals starting at about 200,000 yen, a fraction of the regular overpriced services, and lists the different options and prices to choose from a la carte. Many of these new funeral homes are started by non-Japanese nationals. Also, recently hotels with a decreasing income due to a decrease in weddings have started to offer funeral services. Overall, the level of competition is increasing. To stay competitive, the prices of regular funeral homes are also decreasing over time. Another recent introduction are services, where a person can choose his or her funeral service before death, and pays a monthly fee (e.g. 10,000 yen) to cover all costs of the funeral.
History
In Japanese history, famous leaders were often buried in tombs. The oldest known burial chamber was that built between 230 B.C.E. and 220 B.C.E. in Sakurai, Nara prefecture, and called the Hokenoyama tomb. The tomb is 80 m long, and the chamber is 7 m long and 2.7 m wide, and contained a coffin 5 m long and 1 m wide. It is not known exactly who is buried there, but it is presumed to be a powerful local leader.
Around 300, the usage of burial mounds for important leaders became more frequent. Japan developed its unique keyhole shaped burial mounds. These burial mounds are called Kofun (古墳 - the word is used for burial mounds of all shapes), and the period from 250 to 538 is called the Kofun period. Although it was believed around 50 years ago that these mounds had initially been influenced by burial mounds in From China] via the Korean peninsula, Yayoi period mounds are generally regarded as their predecessors. There is a large number of these burial mounds all over Japan, most of which have a keyhole shaped outline with a length of up to 400 m. The largest is the tomb of Emperor Nintoku in Sakai near Osaka, with a length of 486 m, covering an area of 300,000 square metres. They are usually surrounded by a moat, unless they are constructed on a hill. The round half of the burial mound contains a burial chamber. In the 6th century, round and square burial mounds came into use. The usage of burial mounds is believed to have gradually stopped either with the introduction of Buddhism in Japan in 552 or 538, or with the establishment of the capital in Nara by Empress Gemmei in 710. Instead, family tombs were constructed with an access passage to add relatives to the tomb after their death. Traditionally, the handling of deceased was considered unclean business and were usually done by Burakumin.
Medieval Sōtō Zen Funerals
Japanese Buddhist funerals, which make up the vast majority of Japanese funerals today, are generally performed in what was historically the Sōtō Zen style, although today the Sōtō funerary rites have come to define the standard funeral format by most of the other Japanese Buddhist schools. Japanese Zen funeral rites came directly from Chinese Ch’an funeral rites, which were detailed in the Ch’an-yuan ch’ing-kuei (“the pure regulations of the Zen monastery”). The major difference between the earlier Chinese Ch’an funerals and Japanese Sōtō Zen funerals was that early Japanese monks made no distinction between a monastic funeral for an abbot and the funeral service for a layperson. The first Japanese laypeople to receive Zen funerals were among the ruling elite who sponsored the activities of Zen institutions.[25] One early example of this is the Regent Hōjō Tokimune, who received monastic funeral rites in 1284 at the hands of Chinese monk Wuxue Zuyan.[26] Zen historian Martin Collcutt asserts that “one means by which Zen monks extended their influence in society was by the conduct of funeral services for important patrons.”[27] By the medieval Sōtō period, only a small percentage of the funeral sermons recorded were delivered for members of the monastic order.[28]
The progressive changes in Sōtō Zen funeral rites were not enacted by its founder, Dogen, but came about years later when Zen master Keizan encouraged Zen monks to go out into the countryside and perform funeral services for the laity. Although Dogen was the first to implement many aspects of Chinese Ch’an monastic codes in Japan, his gogoku doesn’t contain any funeral sermons.[29] At this point in Japanese history, different schools of Zen were in competition for followers, and they were “more conscious than ever before of the necessity of making available to the laity such rites as funeral services and ancestor worship.”[30] Keizan’s inclusive attitudes toward funerals resulted in the building of many temples in rural areas and the gradual expansion of the Sōtō order throughout Japan.[31]
The funeral service that became popular for the Japanese laity in the medieval period was essentially the Chinese Ch’an service specified for the ordinary monk. The most important phases of this type of Zen funeral were: posthumous ordination, the sermon at the side of the corpse, the circumambulation of the coffin around the cremation ground, and the lighting of the funeral pyre.[32] For a lay person, the posthumous ordination part of the ritual was the most vital, because without ordaining the deceased as a Zen monk, the other funeral rites could not be performed, since Zen funeral rites did not previously exist for laypeople, but only for monks. Once posthumous ordination of the laity was accepted by the Sōtō school, lay funeral practices became possible; today, death rituals mark the central practice at Sōtō Zen parish temples.[33] This practice was one of the first few elements of Sōtō Zen that was standardized by the early Tokugawa period. [34] Since the popularization of Sōtō Zen in medieval Japan, Sōtō Zen funeral practices have been a significant point of contact between the monks and laity, and continue to play an important role in lay religious life today.
Funerals in contemporary North America
Traditional funerals
Within the United States and Canada, in most cultural groups and regions, the funeral rituals can be divided into three parts: visitation, funeral, and the burial service.
Visitation
At the visitation (also called a "viewing" or "wake") the embalmed body of the deceased person (or decedent) is placed on display in the coffin (also called a casket). The viewing often takes place on one or two evenings before the funeral. The body is traditionally dressed in the decedent's best clothes, which may be slit up the back to facilitate dressing the body. In recent times there has been more variation in what the decedent is dressed in. The body will also be adorned with the usual jewelry, including a watch. The jewelry and watch will remain in the casket after burial, but it might be removed before cremation.
The only prescribed aspects[citation needed] of this gathering are that frequently the attendees sign a book kept by the deceased's survivors to record who attended and that the attendees are expected to view the deceased's body in the coffin. In addition, a family may choose to display photographs taken of the deceased person during his/her life (often, formal portraits with other family members and candid pictures to show "happy times"), prized possessions and other items representing his/her hobbies and/or accomplishments. A more recent trend is to create a DVD with pictures and video of the deceased, accompanied by music, and play this DVD continuously during the visitation. After the services, the DVD is given to the family.
The viewing is either "open casket," in which the embalmed body of the deceased has been clothed and treated with cosmetics for display; or "closed casket," in which the coffin is closed. The coffin may be closed if the body was too badly damaged because of an accident or fire, deformed from illness or if someone in the group is emotionally unable to cope with viewing the corpse. During an open casket, if the deceased was of Roman Catholic faith, a large rosary made out of fresh flowers may be hung inside of the coffin.[citation needed]
However, this step is foreign to Judaism; Jewish funerals are held soon after death, and the corpse is never displayed. As well, Jewish law[citation needed] forbids anyone to embalm the body of the deceased. Traditionally flowers (and music) are not sent to a grieving Jewish family as it is a reminder of the life that is now lost.(See also Jewish bereavement.)
The decedent's closest friends and relatives who are unable to attend frequently send flowers to the viewing, with the exception of a Jewish Funeral [3], where flowers would not be appropriate (and donations are given to a charity instead). The viewing typically takes place at a funeral home, which is equipped with gathering rooms where the viewing can be conducted, although the viewing may also take place at a church. It is also common practice in some of the states in the southeastern United States that the body is taken to the decedent’s home or that of a relative for viewing. The viewing may end with a prayer service; in the Catholic funeral, this may include a rosary.[citation needed]
A visitation is often held the evening before the day of the funeral. However, when the deceased person is elderly the visitation may be held immediately preceding the funeral. This allows elderly friends of the deceased a chance to view the body and attend the funeral in one trip, since it may be difficult for them to arrange travel.
A Traditional Fire Department funeral consists of two raised aerial ladders.[citation needed] The firefighter(s) travel under the aerials on their ride on the fire apparatus to the cemetery.
Funeral
A memorial service, often called a funeral and often officiated by clergy from the decedent's or bereaved's church or religion. A funeral may take place at either a funeral home or church. A funeral is usually held three to five days after the death of the deceased. Some people consider it important [citation needed] to conduct the funeral exactly three days after the death.
The deceased is usually transported from the funeral home to a church in a hearse, a specialized vehicle designed to carry casketed remains. The deceased most often transported in a procession, with the hearse, funeral service vehicles, and private automobiles traveling in a procession to the church or other location where the services will be held. In a number of jurisdictions, special laws cover funeral processions - such as requiring other vehicles to give right-of-way to a funeral procession. Funeral service vehicles may be equipped with light bars and special flashers to increase their visibility on the roads. After the funeral service, if the deceased is to be buried the funeral procession will proceed to a cemetery if not already there. If the deceased is to be cremated the funeral procession may then proceed to the crematory.
Funeral services include prayers; readings from the Bible or other sacred texts; hymns (sung either by the attendees or a hired vocalist); and words of comfort by the clergy. Frequently, a relative or close friend will be asked to give a eulogy, which details happy memories and accomplishments; often commenting on the deceased's flaws, especially at length, is considered impolite. Sometimes the delivering of the eulogy is done by the clergy. Clergy are often asked to deliver eulogies for people they have never met.
Tradition [citation needed] also allows the attendees of the memorial service to have one last opportunity to view the decedent's body and say good-bye; the immediate family (siblings (and their spouses); followed by the decedent's spouse, parents and children) are always the very last to view their loved one before the coffin is closed. This opportunity can take place immediately before the service begins, or at the very end of the service.
During funerals, bagpipes are sometimes played. Curiously, at a police officer's or firefighter's funeral, the pipes are usually Great Highland Bagpipes, not the Uillean pipes usually played by Irish musicians. In the United States, police officers and firefighters are often of Irish, but seldom of Scottish descent [citation needed]. This custom, which was quite obvious in the funerals of emergency workers killed in the September 11, 2001, World Trade Center attacks, is mysterious but seldom questioned [citation needed].
During the funeral and at the burial service, the casket may be covered with a large arrangement of flowers, called a casket spray. If the decedent served in a branch of the Armed forces, the casket may be covered with a national flag; however nothing should cover the national flag according to Title 4, United States Code, Chapter 1, Paragraph 8i.
Funeral customs vary from country to country. In the United States, any type of noise other than quiet whispering or mourning is considered disrespectful.
Note: In some religious denominations, for example, Roman Catholic and Anglican, eulogies are prohibited or discouraged during this service, in order to preserve respect for traditions. Also, for these religions, the coffin is traditionally closed at the end of the wake and is not re-opened for the funeral service.
Burial service
A burial service, conducted at the side of the grave, tomb, mausoleum or crematorium, at which the body of the decedent is buried or cremated at the conclusion.
Sometimes, the burial service will immediately follow the funeral, in which case a funeral procession travels from the site of the memorial service to the burial site. Other times, the burial service takes place at a later time, when the final resting place is ready.
If the decedent served in a branch of the Armed forces, military rites are often accorded at the burial service.
In many religious traditions, pallbearers, usually males who are close, but not immediate relatives (such as cousins, nephews or grandchildren) or friends of the decedent, will carry the casket from the chapel (of a funeral home or church) to the hearse, and from the hearse to the site of the burial service. The pallbearers often sit in a special reserved section during the memorial service.
According to most religions, coffins are kept closed during the burial ceremony. In Eastern Orthodox funerals, the coffins are reopened just before burial to allow loved ones to look at the deceased one last time and give their final farewells.
The morticians will typically ensure that all jewelry, including wristwatch, that were displayed at the wake are in the casket before it is buried or entombed. It would be unseemly to have the decedent's heirs squabbling over a Rolex or an engagement ring. Custom requires that everything goes into the ground.
There is an exception, in the case of cremation. Such items tend to melt or suffer damage, so they are usually removed before the body goes into the furnace. Pacemakers are removed prior to creamation - if they were left in they could possibly explode and damage the crematorium.
Luncheon
In many traditions, a meal or other gathering often follows the burial service. This gathering may be held at the decedent's church or another off-site location. Some funeral homes have large spaces set aside to provide funeral dinners. [citation needed]
For Irish descendants, An Irish Wake usually lasts 3 full days. On the day after the wake the funeral takes place. Family members and friends will ensure that there is always someone awake with the body, traditionally saying prayers.
Etiquette
Generally speaking, the number of people who are considered obliged to attend each of these three rituals by etiquette decreases at each step:
- Distant relatives and acquaintances may be called upon to attend the visitation.
- The decedent's closer relatives and local friends attend the funeral or memorial service, and subsequent burial (if it is held immediately after the memorial service).
- If the burial is on the day of the funeral, only the decedent's closest relatives and friends attend the burial service (although if the burial service immediately follows the funeral, all attendees of the memorial service are asked to attend).
Traditionally etiquette dictated[citation needed] that the bereaved and other attendees at a funeral wear semi-formal clothing—such as a suit and tie for men or a dress for women. The most traditional and respectful color is solid black (with a matching solid black tie for men) preferably without any underlying pinstripes or patterns in the weave. But failing that charcoal gray or dark navy blue may be worn. Wearing short skirts, low-cut tops, or, at Western funerals, a large amount of white (other than a button-down shirt or blouse, or a military uniform) is often seen as disrespectful.[citation needed] Women who are grieving the death of their husband or a close partner sometimes wear a veil to conceal the face, although the veil is not common now.
Private services
On occasion, the family of the deceased may wish to have only a very small service, with just the decedent's closest family members and friends attending. This type of ceremony means it is closed to the public. One may only go to the funeral if he or she was invited. In this case, a private funeral service is conducted. Reasons vary but often include the following:
- The decedent was an infant (possibly, they may have been stillborn) or very aged, and therefore has few surviving family members or friends.
- The decedent may be a crime victim or a convicted criminal who was serving a prison sentence. In this case, the service is made private either to avoid unwanted media coverage (especially with a crime victim); or to avoid unwanted intrusion (especially if the decedent was convicted of murder or sexual assault).
- The family does not feel able to endure a traditional service (due to emotional shock) or simply wants a quiet, simple funeral with only the most important people of the decedent's life in attendance.
- The decedent is of a distinct celebrity status, and holding public ceremony would result in too many guests who are not acquainted with the decedent to participate. On the other hand, if a state funeral is offered and accepted by the decedent's immediate family, a public funeral would ensue. A recent example of this is the death of celebrity Steve Irwin, in which his family was offered a state funeral but refused. They held a private ceremony for Irwin on 9 September 2006.
In some cases (particularly the latter), the family may schedule a public memorial service at a later time.
Memorial services
The memorial service is a service given for the deceased without the body present. This may take place after an earth burial, donation of the body to an institution such as a school, cremation (sometimes the cremations are present), entombment, or burial at sea. Typically these services take place at the funeral home and may include prayers, poems, or songs to remember the deceased. Pictures of the deceased are usually placed at the altar where the body would normally be to pay respects by.
Other types of funerals
New Orleans Jazz Funeral
A unique funeral tradition in the United States occurs in New Orleans, Louisiana. The unique tradition arises from African spiritual practices, French martial musical traditions and uniquely African-American cultural influences. A typical jazz funeral begins with a march by the family, friends, and a jazz band from the home, funeral home or church to the cemetery. Throughout the march, the band plays very somber dirges. Once the final ceremony has taken place, the march proceeds from the cemetery to a gathering place, and the solemn music is replaced by loud, upbeat, raucous music and dancing where onlookers join in to celebrate the life of the deceased. This is the origin of the New Orleans dance known as the "second line" where celebrants do a dance-march, frequently while raising the hats and umbrellas brought along as protection from intense New Orleans weather and waving handkerchiefs above the head that are no longer being used to wipe away tears.
“Green” funeral
Those with concerns about the effects on the environment of traditional burial or cremation may choose to be buried in a fashion more suited to their beliefs. They may choose to be buried in a coffin made of cardboard or other easily-biodegradable materials. Further, they may choose their final resting place to be in a park or woodland, known as an eco-cemetery, and may have a tree planted over their grave as a contribution to the environment and a remembrance.
Internet visitation/funeral
A Funeral Home in North Syracuse, New York was the first funeral home to offer and broadcast a visitation and funeral "live" on the Internet. A Funeral Director at the Home said "It's not new technology, just a new application." The use of a web-camera allows relatives who could not otherwise attend services to do so from any computer. Family members and friends separated by distance, weather or circumstance can now become part of the support network by being connected electronically to the ceremonies. [citation needed]
Funerals in East Asia
In most East Asian, South Asian and many Southeast Asian cultures, the wearing of white is symbolic of death. In these societies, white or off-white robes are traditionally worn to symbolize that someone has died and can be seen worn among relatives of the deceased during a funeral ceremony. In Chinese culture, red is strictly forbidden as it is a traditionally symbolic color of happiness. Contemporary Western influence however has meant that dark-colored or black attire is now often also acceptable for mourners to wear (particularly for those outside the family). In such cases, mourners wearing dark colors at times may also wear a white or off-white armband or white robe. When a coffin is lowered into the ground the mourners will bow their heads and must not watch the coffin being lowered into the ground. Sometimes, some members of the procession are required to turn their backs and not look at the coffin as it is sealed, entering the carriage, removed from the carriage and entering the ground. They may also be required to wipe their faces with a white cloth. Paper money and commodities constructed out of paper and bamboo are often burnt for the deceased for use in the afterlife.
A traditional Chinese gift to the attendees upon entering is a white envelope, usually enclosing a small sum of money (in odd numbers, usually one dollar), a sweet and a handkerchief, each with symbolic meaning. Chinese custom also dictates that the said sum of money should not be brought home. The sweet should be consumed the day of and anything given during the funeral must not be brought home. The repetition of 3 is common where people at the funeral may brush their hair three times or spit three times before leaving the funeral to ward off bad luck. This custom is also found in other East Asian and Southeast Asian cultures.[citation needed]
Most Japanese funerals are conducted with Buddhist rites. Many feature a ritual that bestows a new name on the deceased; funerary names typically use obsolete or archaic kanji and words, to avoid the likelihood of the name being used in ordinary speech or writing. The new names are typically chosen by a Buddhist priest, after consulting the family of the deceased. Most Japanese are cremated.
African funerals
The custom of burying the dead in the floor of dwelling-houses has been to some degree prevalent on the Gold Coast of Africa. The ceremony is purely animist, and apparently without any set ritual. The main exception is that the females of the family of the deceased and their friends may undergo mournful lamentations. In some instances they work their feelings up to an ostentatious, frenzy-like degree of sorrow. The revelry may be heightened by the use of alcohol, of which drummers, flute-players, bards, and singing men may partake. The funeral may last for as much as a week. Another custom, a kind of memorial, frequently takes place seven years after the person's death. These funerals and especially the memorials may be extremely expensive for the family in question. Cattle, sheep, goats, and poultry, may be offered in remembrance and then consumed in festivities.
Some funerals in Ghana are held with the deceased put in elaborate "fantasy coffins" colored and shaped after a certain object, such as a fish, crab, boat, and even an airplane.[citation needed]
Ancient funeral rites
The most simple and natural kind of funeral monuments, and therefore the most ancient and universal, consist in a mound of earth, or a heap of stones, raised over the body or ashes of the departed: of such monuments mention is made in the Book of Joshua, and in Homer and Virgil.
The place of burial amongst the Jews was never particularly determined. Ancient Jews had burial-places upon the highways, in gardens, and upon mountains. In the Hebrew Bible (known as the Christian Old Testament), Abraham was buried with Sarah, his wife, in the cave in Machpelah, the field he bought from Ephron the Hittite; David, king of Israel, and the other kings after him (including Uzziah of Judah) "rested with [their] ancestors" in the burial field that pertained to the kings.
The primitive Greeks were buried in places prepared for that purpose in their own houses; but later they established burial grounds in desert islands, and outside the walls of towns, by that means securing them from disturbance, and themselves from the liability of catching infection from those who had died of contagious disorders.
Funerals in ancient Rome
In ancient Rome, the eldest surviving male of the household, the pater familias, was summoned to the death-bed, where he attempted to catch and inhale the last breath of the decedent.
Funerals of the socially prominent were usually undertaken by professional undertakers called libitinarii. No direct description has been passed down of Roman funeral rites. These rites usually included a public procession to the tomb or pyre where the body was to be cremated. The most noteworthy thing about this procession was that the survivors bore masks bearing the images of the family's deceased ancestors. The right to carry the masks in public was eventually restricted to families prominent enough to have held curule magistracies. Mimes, dancers, and musicians hired by the undertakers, as well as professional female mourners, took part in these processions. Less well to do Romans could join benevolent funerary societies (collegia funeraticia) who undertook these rites on their behalf.
Nine days after the disposal of the body, by burial or cremation, a feast was given (cena novendialis) and a libation poured over the grave or the ashes. Since most Romans were cremated, the ashes were typically collected in an urn and placed in a niche in a collective tomb called a columbarium (literally, "dovecote"). During this nine day period, the house was considered to be tainted, funesta, and was hung with yew or cypress branches to warn by passers. At the end of the period, the house was swept in an attempt to purge it of the dead person's ghost.
Several Roman holidays commemorated a family's dead ancestors, including the Parentalia, held February 13 through 21, to honor the family's ancestors; and the Lemuria, held on May 9, 11, and 13, in which ghosts (larvæ) were feared to be active, and the pater familias sought to appease them with offerings of beans.[citation needed]
The Romans prohibited burning or burying in the city, both from a sacred and civil consideration, so that the priests might not be contaminated by touching a dead body, and so that houses would not be endangered by funeral fires.
The Romans commonly built tombs for themselves during their lifetime. Hence these words frequently occur in ancient inscriptions, V.F. Vivus Facit, V.S.P. Vivus Sibi Posuit. The tombs of the rich were usually constructed of marble, the ground enclosed with walls, and planted round with trees. But common sepulchres were usually built below ground, and called hypogea. There were niches cut out of the walls, in which the urns were placed; these, from their resemblance to the niche of a pigeon-house, were called columbaria.
Funerals in Scotland
An old funeral rite from the Scottish Highlands is to bury the deceased with a wooden plate resting on his chest. In the plate were placed a small amount of earth and salt, to represent the future of the deceased. The earth hinted that the body would decay and become one with the earth, while the salt represented the soul, which does not decay. This rite was known as "earth laid upon a corpse".[citation needed]
Mutes and professional mourners
From about 1600 to 1914, there were two professions in Europe now almost totally forgotten. The mute is depicted in art quite frequently but in literature is probably best known from Dickens' "Oliver Twist." Oliver is working for Sowerberry's when this conversation takes place: "There's an expression of melancholy in his face, my dear ... which is very interesting. He would make a delightful mute, my love." The main purpose of a funeral mute was to stand around at funerals with a sad, pathetic face. The professional mourner, generally a woman, would shriek and wail, to encourage others to weep. These people are mentioned[citation needed] in ancient Greek plays, and were employed throughout Europe, but the practice largely died out in the nineteenth century. They continue to exist in Africa and the Middle East.[citation needed]
The 2003 award-winning Philippine comedy Crying Ladies revolves around the lives of three women who are part-time professional mourners for the Chinese-Filipino community in Manila's Chinatown. According to the film, the Chinese use professional mourners to help expedite the entry of a deceased loved one's soul into heaven by giving the impression that he or she was a good and loving person, well-loved by many.
Funerals for heroes
Viking chieftains were placed in ships after their death, together with tools and weapons.[citation needed] The ships were then set on a course out to sea and set ablaze. This is still re-enacted as part of festivals in the north of Europe, particularly at Up Helly-Aa and the Delamont Viking Festival. Military heroes such as Nelson, Wellington and Sir Winston Churchill had their coffins paraded through the city of London, placed on gun carriages. The guns were originally pulled by horses, but are now pulled by sailors. This is called a State Funeral.
Final disposition of the dead
Some cultures place the dead in tombs of various sorts, either individually, or in specially designated tracts of land that house tombs. Burial in a graveyard is one common form of tomb. In some places, burials are impractical because the ground water is too high; therefore tombs are placed above ground, as was the case in New Orleans, Louisiana. Elsewhere, a separate building for a tomb is usually reserved for the socially prominent and wealthy. Especially grand above-ground tombs are called mausoleums. Other buildings used as tombs include the crypts in churches; burial in these places is again usually a privilege given to the socially prominent dead. In more recent times, however, this has often been forbidden by hygiene laws.
Burial was not always permanent. In some areas, burial grounds needed to be re-used because of limited space. In these areas, once the dead have decomposed to skeletons, the bones are removed; after their removal they can be placed in an ossuary.
"Burial at sea" means the deliberate disposal of a corpse into the ocean, wrapped and tied with weights to make sure it sinks. It is a common practice in navies and sea-faring nations; in the Church of England, special forms of funeral service were added to the Book of Common Prayer to cover it. Science fiction writers have frequently analogized with "Burial in space."
Cremation, also, is an old custom; it was the usual mode of disposing of a corpse in ancient Rome. Vikings were occasionally cremated in their longships, and afterwards the location of the site was marked with standing stones. In recent years, despite the objections of some religious groups, cremation has become more and more widely used. Orthodox Judaism and the Eastern Orthodox Church forbid cremation, as do most Muslims. Orthodox Judaism forbids cremation according to Jewish law (Halakha) believing that the soul of a cremated person cannot find its final repose. The Roman Catholic Church forbade it for many years, but since 1963 the church has allowed it so long as it is not done to express disbelief in bodily resurrection. The church specifies that cremated remains are either buried or entombed. They do not allow cremated remains to be scattered or kept at home. Many Catholic cemeteries now have columbarium niches for cremated remains, or specific sections for those remains. Some denominations of Protestantism allow cremation, the more conservative denominations generally do not.
Hindus consider the funeral as the final "samskar" or ritual of life.[citation needed] Cremation is generally mandatory for all Hindus, except for saints and children under the age of 5 years.[citation needed] Cremation is seen as the only way in which all the five elements of fire, water, earth, air and space would be satisfied by returning the body to these elements as after cremation the ashes are poured into the sacred river Ganges or into the sea. After death the body of the deceased is placed on the ground with the head of the deceased pointing towards south which is considered the direction of the dead. The body is anointed with sacred items such as sandalwood paste and holy ashes, tulsi (basil) leaves and water from the river Ganges. The eldest son would whisper "Om namah shivay" or "Om namo bhagavate vasudevaya" near the ear of the deceased.[citation needed] An oil lamp is lit besides the deceased and chapters from the holy Bhagavad Gita or Garud Purana are recited. Traditionally the body has to be cremated within 24 hours after death, as keeping the body longer is considered to lead to impurity and hinder the passage of the dead to afterlife. Hence before cremation as the body lies in state, minimal physical contact with the body is observed.
A priest is called in to lead the formal religious rituals, after which the body is taken to the cremation ground, where the eldest son normally lights the funeral pyre, this act is considered to be the most important duty of a son as it is believed that he leads his parents from this world into moksha. Immediately after the cremation, the family members of the deceased all have to take a purifying bath and observe a 12-day mourning period. This mourning period ends on the morning of the thirteenth day on which a Shraddh ceremony is conducted in which offerings are given to ancestors and other gods in order to grant liberation or moksha to the deceased.
Recently a new method of disposing of the body, called promession or an Ecological funeral, has been patented by a Swedish company.[citation needed] Its main purpose is to return the body to soil quickly while minimizing pollution and resource consumption.
Rarer forms of disposal of the dead include excarnation, where the corpse is exposed to the elements. This was done by some groups of Native Americans; it is still practiced by Zoroastrians in Bombay, where the Towers of Silence/Daxmas allow vultures and other carrion eating birds to dispose of the corpses. Zoroastrianism believes that fire is sacred and should not be defiled by cremating a human body. It is also practiced by some Tibetan Buddhists and is sometimes called Sky burial.[citation needed]
Cannibalism is also practiced post-mortem in some countries. The practice has been linked to the spread of a prion disease called kuru.[citation needed]
Mummification is the drying of bodies to preserve them. The most famous practitioners of mummification were ancient Egyptians: many nobles and high-ranked bureaucrats of the old Egyptian kingdom had their corpses embalmed and stored in luxurious sarcophagi inside their funeral mausoleum or, in the cases of some Pharaohs, a pyramid.[citation needed]
Control by the decedent of the details of the funeral
In law in the United States, the deceased have little say in the manner in which their funerals can be conducted. The law generally holds[citation needed] that the funeral rituals are for the benefit of the survivors, rather than to express the personal whims and tastes of the deceased.
The decedent may, in most U.S. jurisdictions, provide instructions as to his funeral by means of a Last Will and Testament. These instructions can be given some legal effect if bequests are made contingent on the heirs carrying them out, with alternative gifts if they are not followed. This assumes, of course, that the decedent has enough of an estate to make the heirs pause before doing something that will invoke the alternate bequest. To be effective, the will must be easily available, and some notion of what it provides must be known to the decedent's survivors.[citation needed]
Some people[citation needed] dislike the clutter and display of flowers at funerals, and feel that there is an unseemly competition in the number and size of the floral arrangements sent. Many newspapers[citation needed] refuse to print an obituary that requests that flowers not be sent; to do so would be to offend the florists' industry. Many obituaries do, however, contain notices regarding "memorial gifts" to a charitable organization. It is usually understood in these situations that a gift to the charity made in memory of the decedent relieves the donor of the social duty of sending flowers.
Anatomical gifts
Another way of avoiding some of the rituals and costs of a traditional funeral is for the decedent to donate some or all of her or his body to a medical school or similar institution for the purpose of instruction in anatomy, or for similar purposes. Students of medicine and osteopathy frequently study anatomy from donated cadavers; they are also useful in forensic research.
Making an anatomical gift is a separate transaction from being an organ donor, in which any useful organs are removed from the unembalmed cadaver for medical transplant. Under a Uniform Act in force in most jurisdictions of the United States, being an organ donor is a simple process that can often be accomplished when a driver's license is renewed.[citation needed] There are some medical conditions, such as amputations, or various surgeries, that can make the cadaver unsuitable for these purposes. Conversely, the bodies of people who had certain medical conditions are useful for research into those conditions. All US medical schools rely on the generosity of "anatomical donors" for the teaching of anatomy. Typically the remains are cremated once the students have completed their anatomy classes, and many medical schools now hold a memorial service at that time as well.[citation needed]
See also
- Bereavement in Judaism
- Burial
- Celebrant (United States)
- Cremation
- Funeral Consumers Alliance
- Icelandic funeral
- Living funeral
- Mourning
- Military rites
- Military funeral
- Museum of Funeral Customs
- Requiem
- State funeral
Notes
- ↑ Code of Canon Law. Libreria Editrice Vaticana. Retrieved 2007-07-24.
- ↑ Juergens, Sylvester P. (1960). The New Marian Missal For Daily Mass. Regina Press, New York, 1376, 1387-1388.
- ↑ Bugnini, Annibale: The Reform of the Liturgy : 1948–1975, (The Liturgical Press, 1990), Chap.46.II.1, p.773.
- ↑ Spiritual Guidance Order of Christian Funerals—Part II. Archdiocese of Milwaukee Catholic Cemeteries (2007). Retrieved 2007-07-26.
- ↑ Ghamidi(2001), Customs and Behavioral Laws
- ↑ Sahih Bukhari 1254
- ↑ Sahih Bukhari 1346
- ↑ Sahih Muslim 943
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Ghamidi, Various types of the prayer
- ↑ Sahih Muslim Volume 2, Book 23, Number 344-358
- ↑ Sahih Muslim Volume 2, Book 23, Number 353-358
- ↑ Sahih Muslim Volume 2, Book 23, Number 359
- ↑ Sahih Muslim Volume 2, Book 23, Number 404
- ↑ Sahih Muslim Volume 2, Book 23, Number 368
- ↑ Sahih Muslim Volume 2, Book 23, Number 369-371
- ↑ Sahih Muslim Volume 2, Book 23, Number 370-371
- ↑ Sahih Muslim Volume 2, Book 23, Number 391
- ↑ Sahih Muslim Volume 2, Book 23, Number 375-393
- ↑ Islahi(1986), pp. 546
- ↑ Shehzad Saleem. The Social Directives of Islam: Distinctive Aspects of Ghamidi’s Interpretation, Renaissance. March, 2004.
- ↑ Deuteronomy 21:23
- ↑ http://bible.ort.org/books/pentd2.asp?ACTION=displaypage&BOOK=5&CHAPTER=34
- ↑ http://ohr.edu/ask_db/ask_main.php/275/Q4/ Ohr Somayach—Ask The Rabbi / Tattoo and Jewish Burial
- ↑ Alfred J. Kolatch, The Second Jewish Book of Why, Jonathan David Publishers, 1995, pp. 137–138.
- ↑ William M. Bodiford, "Zen in the Art of Funerals: Ritual Salvation in Japanese Buddhism," History of Religions 32, no. 2 (1992): 152.
- ↑ Bodiford, "Zen in the Art of Funerals," 152.
- ↑ Martin Collcutt, Five Mountains: The Rinzai Zen Monastic Institution in Medieval Japan (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1981), 73.
- ↑ William M Bodiford, Sōtō Zen in Medieval Japan (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1993), 199.
- ↑ Bodiford, Soto Zen in Medieval Japan, 191.
- ↑ Yasuaki Nara, "May the Deceased Get Enlightenment! An Aspect of the Enculturation of Buddhism in Japan," Buddhist-Christian Studies 15 (1995): 25.
- ↑ Nara, "May the Deceased Get Enlightenment!," 25.
- ↑ Bernard Faure, The Rhetoric of Immediacy: A Cultural Critique of Chan/Zen Buddhism (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1991), 193.
- ↑ Duncan Ryuken Williams, The Other Side of Zen: A Social History of Soto Zen Buddhism in Tokugawa Japan (Princeton and Oxford: Princeton University Press, 2005), 38.
- ↑ Williams, The Other Side of Zen, 41.
ReferencesISBN links support NWE through referral fees
- Ghamidi, Javed (2001). Mizan. Dar al-Ishraq. OCLC 52901690.
- Amin Ahsan Islahi, Tadabbur-i-Qur'an, 2nd ed., vol. 1, (Lahore: Faran Foundation, 1986)
External links
- National Funeral Directors Association
- Museum of Funeral Customs homepage
- Funeral Consumers Alliance
- Huge collection of funeral readings
- Vietnamese Funeral ceremonies
- The Rosicrucian Method of Caring for the Dead
- Islamic Funeral Rites
- Faradis Architecture of muslim burial grounds
- A Step by step illustrated Janazah guide
- Web portal on Death, Mourning and Hope in Jewish Tradition & Practice
- About.com
- Torah.org
- yarzheit.com
- Jewish Encyclopedia article on Mourning
- The Jewish Way in Death and Mourning By Maurice Lamm
- Orthodox, Conservative and Reform perspectives from Mazornet.com
- Yahrtzeit Calculator
- Japanese Buddhist Funeral Customs
- Japanese funeral checklist
- The Japanese way of death
- debito.org eyewitness account on Japanese funerals
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