Expedited Religious Burial and Service
From: (MRFF client name withheld)
Subject: Expedited Religious Burial and Service
Date: March 9, 2025 at 10:14:01 PM MDT
To: <[email protected]>
B”H
Dear Mikey,
Thank you for taking my call this evening at such a late hour. As we discussed my grandfather (name of deceased veteran withheld) passed away (day and location withheld). His wishes were to have an Orthodox Jewish burial with U.S. military honors as he is a veteran. The (funeral home and location withheld) is scheduled to handle the preparation for burial with a local Orthodox Rabbi. They will ask the (name withheld) cemetery to bury him on their grounds. In our conversation with the funeral director today we were informed of two things which go against our practice and faith as Orthodox Jews.
1) There seems to be a likely extended wait to schedule a burial. This is a big challenge for us because a) our faith requires that the deceased be buried as soon as possible after death even the same day if possible. b) The Jewish holiday of Purim falls out at the end of the week and needless to say it will not be a very joyous holiday for my mother and the other mourners in our family while they wait for the closure of a burial and can start the traditional mourning period.
2) Our faith requires whenever humanly possible that 10 men attend the burial and recite the kaddish prayer for the deceased after burial. We traditionally bury ourselves by hand using shovels with those in attendance and do not use tractors or workers to fill the grave when humanly possible as an extra sign of honor to the deceased. We were told that a graveside service of this kind is not typically allowed at a VA cemetery.
If you are able to help us to expedite the burial as early this week as possible, and help us have the kaddish recited at the gravesite it would be greatly appreciated and a great comfort to our family and an honor to grandpa (name withheld) who served his country honorably and wanted an Orthodox burial.
Sincerely,
(name withheld)