Martha,

MOST interesting. I was under the impression that embalmment was required by law, regardless. Please expound on this. 

A good non-Jewish friend of mine (now dead) once said she was going to specify that she NOT be embalmed (for her own reasons), but I never asked if that was really an option. Is there a religious exemption to this law? If so, we've all been had by the funeral directors lobby!

Craig

On Sep 9, 2014, at 4:16 PM, Martha Katz-Hyman wrote:

> Just a note on this from the Jewish perspective, since that seems not to
> have come up yet in this discussion.
> 
> Traditional Jewish burial in this country is usually in a plain pine/wood
> coffin with no embalming except in relatively rare cases, and the same with
> vaults, except where the water table requires. Bodies are wrapped in
> shrouds within the coffin. In Israel, bodies are laid to rest directly in
> the ground, wrapped in shrouds.
> 
> These two websites might be useful to those interested in learning more.
> https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Judaism/death.html
> http://myjewishlearning.com/life/Life_Events/Death_and_Mourning.shtml
> 
> Martha Katz-Hyman
> Curator
> Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation
> Williamsburg, VA
> 

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