# Jewish Funeral Practices **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 20, 2003, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jewish-funeral-practices/196450 "2003-08-20T14:58:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2003, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jewish-funeral-practices/196450/1 "2003-08-20T14:58:04Z")
A few weeks ago there was a photograph in the local newspaper of a Jewish woman at her husband’s funeral. He was the victim of a bombing in Israel that had occured that day. Is it a requirement of the Jewish religion that the deceased be buried that quickly? What is the rationale (or mandate) for the practice? Additionally, does the Jewish religion have a prohibition on autopsy? ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2003, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jewish-funeral-practices/196450/2 "2003-08-20T15:01:48Z")
I think that they don’t embalm, and it’s better for everyone to bury quickly. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2003, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jewish-funeral-practices/196450/3 "2003-08-20T15:33:27Z")
You are supposed to have the funeral as soon as possible, which often means the next day. Strictly speaking, embalming is not allowed, and neither is autopsy (both are mutilating the corpse – a no-no), though I believe there are exceptions in the case of foul play (it’s often tough to generalize about Jewish religious practices, since there are wide variations). ---
**Author:** ![zev\_steinhardt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/97f17d/32.png) [@zev\_steinhardt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zev_steinhardt)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2003, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jewish-funeral-practices/196450/4 "2003-08-20T15:37:05Z")
The deceased should be buried as quickly as possible. Ideally the burial should be done on the day of death, however, if it is for the honor of the deceased (such as to allow travel time for diginitaries or close relatives to attend the funeral), it may be delayed for up to a day. The rationale is simply respect for the dead. It is considered disrespectful to the dead to allow the corpse to remain unburied. Indeed, burying a corpse is called a “true kindness” in Jewish texts, simply because it is the one kindness that you can perform for someone and know that the person will not ever be able to repay the kindness in any way. Judiasm does not allow embalming. The ideal is for the body to decompose back to the “dust from whence it came” as quickly as possible. An autopsy is generally not permitted. In cases where it is required by the civil authorities, I believe one is done as minimally as possible, and all body parts are returned to the body for burial. Zev Steinhardt ---
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2003, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jewish-funeral-practices/196450/5 "2003-08-20T15:58:38Z")
Thanks for the information. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2003, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jewish-funeral-practices/196450/6 "2003-08-20T16:44:53Z")
I believe organ donation is also permitted these, since it could save or at greatly improve someone’s life. Someone more knowledgeable than me will certainly make me look like an idiot if I’m dead wrong. ---
**Author:** ![zev\_steinhardt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/97f17d/32.png) [@zev\_steinhardt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zev_steinhardt)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2003, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jewish-funeral-practices/196450/7 "2003-08-20T16:57:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Johnny Bravo \* > \*\*I believe organ donation is also permitted these, since it could save or at greatly improve someone’s life. > \*\* N.B.: I am not a Rabbi. In cases of actual necessity, please consult with your local Rabbi. Organ donation is a rather complex situation. In most cases, organ donation merely to improve someone’s life (i.e. non-life-saving cornea transplants) would probably be forbidden. Life-saving transplants may be permitted, but the matter is extremely complex. Rabbi Moshe Feinstein (the leading _halachic_ authority of modern times) wrote in the 70s that heart transplants were forbidden. His reasoning for this ruling was that (1) there was the possibility that the organs might be harvested from the donor before he was _halachically_ dead. This would result in a murder, which would be forbidden in this case, even to save another’s life and (2) there was the very real chance that whereas the recipient may have had a lifespan of only months without the transplant, in many cases, the recipient’s lifespan was often shortened by receiving the donated heart. Since this decision was given, problem #2, for the most part, no longer exists. People now live decades with donated hearts. #1 may no longer be a problem either, but I am not competent enough to answer that question. From my impression (and this may not be accurate) there is still generally a negative feeling about organ donation among Orthodox Jews. However, there has been some movement in recent years to change this. Rabbi Dr. Moses Tendler has started the [Halakhic Organ Donor Association](http://www.imjl.com/hoda/hoda-main.htm), a group formed to promote organ donation by Orthodox Jews. Whether this will become permitted as a general consensus among Orthodox Jews remains to be seen. Zev Steinhardt ---
**Author:** ![IzzyR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/2acd7d/32.png) [@IzzyR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IzzyR)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2003, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jewish-funeral-practices/196450/8 "2003-08-20T18:34:23Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by plnnr \* > A few weeks ago there was a photograph in the local newspaper of a Jewish woman at her husband’s funeral. He was the victim of a bombing in Israel that had occured that day. Is it a requirement of the Jewish religion that the deceased be buried that quickly? What is the rationale (or mandate) for the practice? Additionally, does the Jewish religion have a prohibition on autopsy?] There is a rule that dead bodies are not left overnight in Jerusalem. All Jerusalem burials take place in the day of death. This is not true of other locations.