How do Jews honor their dead?

Answer 1

Jews were and still are wrapped hand stitched white linen shrouds when they are buried. This is because we're supposed to return to the earth and the shrouds easily disintegrate. This is also why Jews are buried in plain (unfinished) pine boxes that will bread down in the earth.

Answer 2

1) The body is buried in a simple shroud (Talmud, Ketubot 8b), because the only things which one brings to the next world are spiritual accomplishments, not jewelry etc.
2) The body is cleansed (by the Chevra Kadisha) and buried as soon as feasible, because we try to maintain its dignity; the dignity of the divine image (Genesis ch.5). For this reason, traditional Jews do not cremate.

3) The burial should be accompanied by as many people as possible, as a sign of honor and loss (Talmud, Ketubot 17a).

4) The initial mourning periods are one, three and seven days. The act of mourning honors the dead (Rashi, Talmud Sukkah 25a) and allows the mourner to gradually deal with his/her emotion so that it won't weigh upon the heart for too long (Maimonides, "Guide," 3:41).
a) The first day of mourning is the most bitter (Talmud, Berakhot 16b, based on Amos 8:10).
b) The first three days are for crying (Talmud, Moed Katan 27b).
c) The seven-day mourning period is of extreme antiquity (Genesis 50:10), as is the practice of eulogizing the deceased (ibid).

5) It is forbidden to mourn without cease (Moed Katan, ibid). The mourner is expected to eventually get back to normal living. The practice of visiting the mourner allows him/her to talk about the deceased, and to maintain interpersonal contact so as not to sink into depression.

6) The Jewish laws of mourning, such as tearing one's garment and not cutting one's hair for a month, show honor to the deceased and express one's feeling of pain. For this reason, they are similar to the ways which we mourn the loss of the Holy Temple in the days before the ninth of Av.

7) The saying of Kaddish expresses our trust in God's judgment.

See also:

Why do Jews put small stones on monuments?

The afterlife in Judaism