Funeral Service

A standard designation for the burial service is Tsidduk ha-Din (lit. "Justification of [the Divine] Judgment"), i.e., man's acknowledgment of and submission to God's will. This actually refers to one central portion of the service, a collection of verses in which the mourners are called upon to accept the inevitable and, while giving vent to their sorrow, reaffirm their trust in God.

In general, Ashkenazi funerals conform to a basic pattern. Distinguished rabbis and scholars who are being conveyed to the cemetery may be honored with a short stop at their synagogue en route to the burial ground. There, relatives and friends of the deceased gather in the prayer hall (chapel), mourners recite the BARUKH DAYYAN HA-EMET formula as their outer garments are rent, and a prescribed benediction is recited by anyone who has not visited a cemetery in the previous 30 days. In Israel especially, the deceased is eulogized in the chapel before the bier or coffin is taken by pallbearers into the graveyard. A special trolley is used to wheel the coffin in some Diaspora communities. Attah Gibbor ("Your might is boundless"), the second blessing of the daily AMIDAH, is then read by the officiating rabbi. It is followed by Tsidduk ha-Din, commencing with Ha-Tsur Tamim Po'olo (Deut. 32:4) and a sequence of other biblical verses which conclude with Jerremiah 32:19, Psalms 92:16, Job 1:21, and Ve-Hu Raḥum ("He, the Merciful One," Ps. 78:38). On days when the TAḤANUN supplication is not read in the synagogue (e.g., the eve of Sabbaths and festivals), the verses after Attah Gibbor are replaced by Mikhtam le-David (Ps. 16) or simply omitted.

As he leads the funeral procession to the grave site, the rabbi often chants Psalms 91 and may stop three times on the way, allowing the mourners to express their grief. In certain Diaspora communities, it is not unusual for portions of the burial service to be read or repeated in the vernacular. As the coffin or shrouded body is lowered into the grave, "May he [she] come to his [her] rest in peace" is said by the officiant. A eulogy may then be given. Adult males, headed by the mourners, cast three shovelfuls of earth into the grave until the mortal remains have been covered, taking care not to pass the spade from hand to hand (it should first be replaced on the ground). Next, either at the grave site or after returning to the chapel, an amplified version of the Kaddish (alluding to God's revival of the dead and praying for Jerusalem's restoration) is said by the mourners, after which an azkarah memorial prayer including EL MALÉ RAḤAMIM may be recited. Those present form two rows between which the mourners pass and are offered traditional words of consolation: "May the Almighty comfort you among the other mourners of Zion and Jerusalem" (see GREETINGS). In Britain and some other English-speaking countries, they are wished a "long life." Before leaving the cemetery, many Jews pluck a few blades of grass and recite one of two biblical verses (Ps. 72:16 or 103:14); all wash their hands and sometimes recite Isaiah 25:8.

The traditional Sephardi burial service differs in a number of ways from that of Ashkenazim, although various Sephardi rituals have been adopted by some Ashkenazi communities in Israel. The custom of making seven circuits (HAKKAFOT) around the bier, while a prayer for God's mercy on the deceased is chanted, thus found its way into Israeli Ḥasidic practice; and the kabbalistic tradition prohibiting sons from accompanying their father's body to the grave is now honored by some mitnaggedim (particularly in Jerusalem): In some places forgiveness is asked from the dead for any sins that may unwittingly have been committed against them. Placing a stone on the grave of a relative is a widely observed custom in Israel.

Sephardim often begin the funeral service in synagogue rather than in the chapel of the cemetery, and women may refrain from attending the actual interment. If the deceased man left children, Syrian Jews blow a ram's horn (shofar) after Kaddish has been recited at the synagogue service prior to the burial. They recite Psalm 91 for a man and Proverbs 31 for a woman, but Moroccan Jews omit Psalms 91 on days when Taḥanun is read. The funeral procession makes up to seven stops en route to the grave, where Psalms 78:38 is recited three times as the body is lowered. In contrast to Ashkenazi practice, Tsidduk ha-Din follows the burial; thereafter, mourners rend their garments, recite Kaddish, and hear the memorial prayer (hashkavah) intoned. Western Sephardim (Spanish and Portuguese Jews), however, begin and end their services in the burial ground's chapel, where the rending of garments takes place before the cortege leaves for the grave site. When the deceased is a woman, Psalms 16 is substituted for Psalms 91. In certain communities, Tsidduk ha-Din is first chanted in the house of mourning and again after the funeral. Consoling the mourners, washing the hands before leaving the cemetery, and similar burial rites are observed by Sephardim and Ashkenazim alike.