# Questions re caskets used in Orthodox Jewish burial **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 7, 2010, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-re-caskets-used-in-orthodox-jewish-burial/531637 "2010-03-07T17:59:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Surly\_Chick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Surly\_Chick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surly_Chick)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2010, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-re-caskets-used-in-orthodox-jewish-burial/531637/21 "2010-03-11T15:49:48Z")
Holy crap, there’s an incredible markup on caskets! My mom passed away in October and the wooden casket we bought at the funeral home was about twice as expensive as the ones on the website. And it wasn’t any fancier. Maybe I should pre-order one for myself. Although storage might be problematic. ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2010, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-re-caskets-used-in-orthodox-jewish-burial/531637/22 "2010-03-11T15:52:06Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > It is interesting to note that on Yom Kippur, the day that all Jews stand before God to be judged, Orthodox tradition is to wear the same shroud a corpse is buried in–called a _kittel_–showing that we are all the same before God, and could be dead if He wanted it.\* > \*Interpretation mine; have no cites. Don’t wanna go there any more, though. Also the head of the household during the Passover seder. ---
**Author:** ![GilaB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8e7dd6/32.png) [@GilaB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GilaB)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2010, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-re-caskets-used-in-orthodox-jewish-burial/531637/23 "2010-03-11T18:05:31Z")
Not in every family, although it’s a common custom. Of the four families I’ve ever had sedarim with, I think only one has been led by someone in a kittel. My father and brother don’t even wear a kittel on Yom Kippur, as this is not our family’s custom. They both wore them at their weddings (I think this is universal among Ashkenazim), but I don’t think either has ever taken it out since. Not wearing a kittel on Yom Kippur is fairly unusual. The linked caskets look much fancier than any I’ve ever seen at an Orthodox funeral, FWIW. They’ve always been made of unfinished wood that’s squared-off rather than rounded on top, with no handle-rods running down the sides. I doubt they’ve got silky padded lining, either, although I’ve never seen the interior (we don’t do open-casket funerals). ---
**Author:** ![Shinna\_Minna\_Ma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f08c70/32.png) [@Shinna\_Minna\_Ma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shinna_Minna_Ma)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2010, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-re-caskets-used-in-orthodox-jewish-burial/531637/24 "2010-03-11T21:53:34Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > It is interesting to note that on Yom Kippur, the day that all Jews stand before God to be judged, Orthodox tradition is to wear the same shroud a corpse is buried in–called a _kittel_–showing that we are all the same before God, and could be dead if He wanted it. Actually, a _kittel_ would only be used for men, and not all men are buried in a in one. We’ve had many buried in just the _tachrichim_, the multi-part burial clothing. (I am a member of our community _cheva kadisha_, or burial society.) ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2010, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-re-caskets-used-in-orthodox-jewish-burial/531637/25 "2010-03-12T05:02:14Z")
> [@Shinna\_Minna\_Ma](#): > > \(I am a member of our community _cheva kadisha_, or burial society.) This the greatest mitsvah of all. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-re-caskets-used-in-orthodox-jewish-burial/531637.md?page=1)