Anthropology of Jewish Funeral - Term Paper Example

For dust you are, and to dust you shall return." Genesis 3:19 Jewish Law Judaism is a product of unyielding faith to keep God’s law and to bring holiness into each and every aspect of a Jewish life. A Jewish’ relationship to their own God is a “covenant relationship”. He, therefore, is essentially bound to keep God’s law and to seek holiness in every aspect of their life; that is the definitive law of the Jewish people. It is understandable then that the Jewish culture treats the preservation of life as one of its utmost obligation to their Supreme Being. To preserve life is rendering the highest form of honor to their Almighty. For them, since we are all created in the image of God, life should be all about infinite value, “regardless of its duration of quality”. Anything that expedites the death of a person or shortens a human life is absolutely a violation to this duty1. Jewish Community The other end in a Jewish life continuum is that of death. As they safeguard life with supreme care, they also take death with valuable commitment in maintaining their duty of sanctity even in this difficult time. Death in a Jewish community is embraced with intricate ceremonies lasting for a period of time. The seemingly simplistic process of Christian death and its acceptance remarkably differs from the extremely complex process by which this community responds to the same social experience. Contrary to Christian communities’ ritual regarding death, Jewish communities give surety that rituals be carried out in accordance to Judaism religious beliefs which is always to set an example of holiness and ethical behavior to the world. Thus, whether in life or in death, the presence of a community epitomizing the Jewish “covenant relationship” with God is of prime importance. Jewish Death Ritual To honor the dead (kvod hamet), it must be buried at a shortest time possible regardless if a family member is not present to attend its burial. Anything that prolongs the physical body to remain above ground is considered “disrespectful and undignified” and “humiliation of the dead” (Khara, 2009). Moreover, it is necessary that the dead person must never be left alone from the moment he is considered dead until the time he is completely buried. Doing so is an apparent gesture of rendering utmost respect for the departed (mitzvah). From the moment a Jew dies, a synagogue will make the necessary arrangement for the whole ritual process. When a community is well organized, the services of a sacred burial society or Chevra Kaddisha are acquired in preparation for the burial of the body. It is a rule that in the preparation, women should prepare women and men should prepare men alone. To prepare the body, it must be washed from head to foot and may be turned to the side to completely clean it but never face down. Tachrichim or customary white burial shroud is then draped around the body supposedly to acknowledge equality between the rich and the poor. To further stress the equality between the two social classes, caskets are to be made simple, devoid of any intricate ornament, should be made from wood and should contain no metal parts.2 During the short “wake”, the casket is to remain closed disallowing the public viewing of the body. Unlike Christians, Jews stringently prohibits embalming as well as cremation. The latter is believed to be a cause of destruction for the human body, which is completely offensive to customary Jewish practices. Jewish Burial Jewish burial takes place within 24 hours. Extension to 48 hours is permitted for to give time for distant relatives to travel and attend. Burial may also be postponed when it falls during a Sabbath day as this is prohibited. Customarily, the immediate family makes a small tear in the departed’s clothing (keriah) which symbolizes mourning. Afterwhich, friends carry the casket to the burial site while making seven stops in between to symbolize the seven times the word “hevel” or utter futility appears in the Book of Ecclesiastes. When the casket is being lowered to the ground, each mourner shovels earth over the grave, puts back the shovel, and the next mourner picks it up and does the same. It would have been more convenient to just pass the shovel around, but Jewish people believe it is not right to “pass the grief” or “pass the death” over to other mourners. After the burial, the mourners go to the home of the deceased and partakes “seudat havraah” or meal of consolation. This now begins the period of bereavement for the immediate family called “shiva”, a seven day adjustment for their loss. With that also begins the recital of the Kaddish three times a day for eleven months. Moreover, several restrictions are also imposed such as: to bathe for pleasure, to refrain from using leather or jewelry, to shave (for men), to commit sexual intercourse, to wear newly washed clothes, and to cook or prepare food using heat. It is a higher form of mitzvah if friends come over to accompany the bereaved family during this difficult transition. The conclusion of shiva marks the beginning of an extended mourning period called shloshim which may extend for thirty days to eleven months. The first death anniversary is marked by the “unveiling” of the gravestone by covering the stone with white linen and removing it thereafter, hence the name it is called. Subsequently, the stone is revealed with the engraved name, date of birth, and date of death of the deceased. Some graves are also etched with quotations, verses, or statements of love. Jewish Death and Anthropology The Jewish process of death ritual signifies that this experience is not only an individual affair but a social affair as well. It is a social experience in that it’s not only the immediate member of the departed who is present beside the deathbed, but a part of the community as well. This goes to show that death becomes an important social event as it convenes social actors and allows for the continuity of established norms and practices. On top of the physical ritual that is actually taking place, this particular social event shows solidarity among its actors as the experience permits the demonstration of strong emotions of grief and sorrow. As Robben would put it, “these rituals repair broken ties, and reaffirm the continuity and soldiery of the community. Death is therefore ritualized and tamed”; contrary to the prevalent notion of terror that death brings. For it to become acceptable, mourning is expressed in socially and culturally established ways. Through mourning, the weakened group is drawn together which creates a sense of “oneness” and thus revitalizes the otherwise disturbed community. In most cases, weeping and embracing makes evident the social attachment of the living and the dead. But in the case of the Jewish tradition, solidarity is best expressed with the immediate family tearing a small part of the burial shroud. This gesture manifests the social attachment between the living and the dead as well as the community and the dead. Hence, as Loring Danforth noted, “There is a strong social pressure on the bereaved to channel sorrow into culturally meaningful laments”. It allows foremost the affirmation of Jewish cultural values which serve as unifying principles in the context of death. These principles would be enumerated as: (1) reality of death, (2) utmost respect for the dead, (3) equality, (4) simplicity, (5) the venting of emotions openly and fully, (6) the communal responsibility and support, (7) affirmation of life with the belief of an Almighty, and (8) the acceptance of death and the remembrance of the departed (Elkin, 2008). It could also be surmised that Jewish burial in this particular context follows a certain rite of passage. This Turner termed “liminality” where a person rises from one status to another. In this case, from being living to becoming a living soul, otherwise also called as being immortal. And religion plays a very important role in providing an arena where this belief is expressed. When the body begins to disintegrate, the soul is believed to have been detached properly from its physical body and begins a journey to the other world, the spirit world. Here, there is a strong “belief in a spiritual life after death by imagining the salvation of an eternal spirit from the visibly decaying corpse” (Robben 2004). Therefore, the act of burying the dead itself is a stage, a sacred time, for the deceased to undergo a higher transformation and a new transition; as aforementioned, from the physical living world to the spiritual living world. Additionally, death is an important social event as it both destroys and fully restores the social order. As exemplified, the death of a Jew causes a slight disturbance in the social order of the society. Emile Durkheim once said in his article, “the death of an individual diminishes the group numerically and socially”. The loss of a functional entity in a social structure alters the normalcy of a given situation. Hence, when death rituals are being expressed and carried out, it provides a period not only to the immediate family but also the community to make the necessary adjustments in coping with loss. After the burial, a cycle of culturally accepted ways in remembering and regeneration commences through prayers, commemorations, etc. As the bereaved immediate family and community continues to live its everyday life, normalcy and stability is slowly achieved hence the social order is restored. Death and Ritual Death has been closely tied to religion hence it is always coupled with series of rituals. Many studies showed that rituals are conducted as this is a manifestation of people’s tendency to deny biological death. Consequentially, rituals serve as an act to prolong the departure of people’s loved ones from the living world. The study of death flourished a little late than others topic in anthropology as discussions on this subject matter used to be regarded as a taboo. But for subjects that express universality across cultures, this particular topic emerged and qualified to be a good arena for more anthropological insights. Anthropologists worldwide were able to point out the rich social and cultural insights embedded in this social event with the use of rituals. Ritual, on the other hand, is another significant part of our society and often reflects the way we live, the values we give importance, our system of beliefs, and even our comfort zone. Rituals are closely tied to religion and are hence performed in accordance to a culture’s religious systems. Therefore, at a very difficult transition that death brings, rituals serve to cushion a disturbed social order. More often, it is executed as an act that reinforces the sense of loyalty, security, solidarity, and “belongingness” of a group. The beauty of death and ritual as a field of study in the anthropological context is enriching as it appraises the values inherent in this particularly depressing social event. In the context of Jewish ritual, death becomes acceptable and even made beautiful as it dissociates the experience from guilt, shame, malevolence, and even hell. In fact, death permits for the gathering of immediate family members, distant relatives, and community. It strengthens the belief in the reunion with the departed loved ones in heaven. More importantly, death in context of Jewish culture and ritual, allows for the expression of treasured community values such as unity, solidarity, commitment to religious and communal principles, belief in life after biological death, and the virtue of spirituality amidst adversity. REFERENCES: Danforth, Loring M.. The Death Rituals of Rural Greece. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1982. Durkheim Emile,. The Elementary Forms of Religious Life. Karen E. Fields. Trans New York: The Free Press, 1995. Elkin, Joshua.. “A Time to Grieve, A Time to Reach.” United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism. New York, 2008. Kanika, Khara.. Death and Mourning. http://www.evjcc.org/resources/lifecycle/death.html. accessed 26 November , 2009. Robben, Antonius C.G.M.,. Death and Anthropology: An Introduction. Blackwell Publishing, Australia, 2004. Robben, Antonius C.G.M.,. Death, Mourning, and Burial: A Cross-Cultural Reader. Blackwell Publishing, Australia, 2004. Strauss, Anne S.. The Meaning of Death in Northern Cheyenne Culture. Plains Anthropologist 23 (79):1-6, 1978. Turner, Victor.. Betwixt and Between: The Liminal Period in Rites de Passage. In the forest of symbols: Aspects of Ndembu ritual. Pp. 93-111. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1967. Read More