As I get older I find myself looking at the obits more often.
I’ve noticed the ones with the star of David rarely if ever show the age they died or the year they were born.
Is there a reason for this?
Sweet. I asked the unanswerable question.
Maybe so! I have personally never noticed any trend to avoid mentioning birth year or age in obituaries of Jews, and don’t know why any such custom would exist, so maybe you just happened to come across some anomalous data.
Or maybe a better-informed poster will be in shortly to explain the phenomenon.
I don’t think it’s specific to Jews. I’m also reading the obits more frequently, and I’ve noticed that more often, the paid listings (the little classified-ad looking things that are bought by the funeral home) don’t list age or birth date. Since those listings are written in cooperation with the family, I have to guess the family itself doesn’t choose to mention it.
I remember an article by a former editor of the *Christian Science Monitor * who said he got into a dispute with his bosses because the Monitor didn’t believe in publishing either the age or cause of death in its obituaries. Christian Science belief was that life on earth was simply one phase of a soul’s eternal existence, so death was merely a transition. I don’t think the Jewish faith looks at death in the same way, though.
It might be that in Judaism the obituary is actually a notice to inform people about the time and place of a funeral service, and otherwise kept simple.
Another thing, probably not related to the question: My grandmother’s generation were all immigrants. They used made up birthdays because in Europe they had gone by Hebrew dates for their birthday, but were required to use the common calender to give a date when entering the US. Usually they stuck with the day of the month and some practice of month equivalance. They were aware of the year they were born though.
I read somewhere , maybe even here, that for cause of death “short illness” means heart attack and “long illness” means cancer in most cases.
I don’t remember whether my (Jewish) grandparents’ obituaries included a Star of David, but they did all include a brief bio, a couple of sentences max, and dates of birth and death. And because Jewish funerals are held very shortly after the death (ideally within 24 hours), I think in all 3 cases the obit was published after the funeral, anyway - funeral info mostly got passed along by word of mouth.
Rabbi Telushkin makes no mention in Jewish Literacy. It therefore must not be important. 
Synagogues do keep a list of dates of death for yahrzeits.
Oh, in the future, remember there is a SDMB rule that all Jewish questions be asked on Friday.
Don’t worry about it. The thread began less than 24 hours before Rosh Hashana. In extenuating circumstances, that’ll do. 
I don’t know about Jewish obits, since I don’t see a lot of them, but I’ve noticed that a couple of the local funeral homes who cater mainly to Blacks have very. . . curt obits.
I think the OP went even better than asking the question on a Friday, instead asking it just before Rosh Hashanah.
The more observant Dopers might be preparing for the Holiday.
I know it Sunday. Any new jews with new views?
Heh…don’t take the “You asked the question on Sabbath/Rosh Hoshanah” seriously. That’s kind of a board in-joke…the “Jewish question asked on Sabbath when most observant Jews won’t be able to answer it” thing happens so often it has a name: “Zev’s Rule”, named after Doper Zev Steinhart.
Just for clarity, “yahrzeit” (which I just saw is recognized by Ipad’s speller!), literally, translates from German/Yiddish to “year-time.” It is the annual marking by the Hebrew calendar of the day of death. In addition, on Yom Kippur, day of atonement, etc., the yahrzeit of all the parents of all living orphans. Those not observing yahrzeit leave the synagogue, when out of doors thanking God for the life of their parents (if they feel like it, there’s not requirement or ritual), but far more often thanking God for a break from the incessant praying and getting a chance to chat.
Yep, they never used to actually say the cause of death. Also suicides were listed as “accidents”, if they got an obituary at all.
That must be your local area; around here the obits placed by African-American-run funeral homes tend to be very detailed and fairly extravagant.
–Sigmagirl, former obituary writer
Okay, this is kind of morbid, but on Friday I traveled to a Jewish funeral home in my hometown to plan for my Jewish funeral. No, I’m not dying; I’m just getting some cash, with the condition that some of it be used for funeral planning. Long story.
Anyhow, the funeral director and I had to write the funeral/death announcement. This is fairly basic; beloved son of, survived by, reception at … the usual. There were no special Jewish rules for what’s included. The announcement is different than the obituary. For that, I got a fill-in-the-blank form with spaces about high school, college, employers, civic groups, where I lived, and the like. The obit is actually written by the newspaper, based on the information I give them. The process is apparently no different than that for a non-Jewish death.
Jewish funerals are also more expensive than I thought, despite the simple casket (I picked a unfinished pine coffin, the model the plain pine box Dad wants for himself.), and lack of embalming or a burial vault.
Bolding mine. I thought that would cut down quite a bit on the expense. Burial is also rather quick, given that. What is different to be so expensive?
A lot of newspapers now charge for publishing obituaries, and charge by the word. So peaople are keeping them short. Birth & death dates are rather superfluous anyway – friends already know about how old the deceased was, and the specific dates will be on the funeral handout. So that’s an obvious thing to drop when trying to cut down the cost.
This reminds me of an old joke.
Mrs. Weinstein’s husband passed away. She went to the newspaper to arrange for the obituary. The clerk explained that the charge for the obit was by the word and asked her what the obit should say. She replied, “Herb died.” The clerk said there was a five-word minimum, so Mrs. Weinstein thought about it for a second and said, “Herb died; car for sale.”