Tob Cohen burial: How a Jewish burial is conducted

What you need to know:

  • A quick burial is a must for any Jewish person and cremation is considered a form of punishment.
  • Only members from the deceased person’s gender conduct are allowed to wash the corpse then dry it.
  • Women are expected to lead any funeral processions.

Monday’s postponement of the burial of Dutch tycoon Tob Cohen due to failure to get 10 rabbis drew attention to the interment traditions of Jews, a people who follow laws given by the Biblical Moses in most aspects of their lives.

Burial rites of the people who subscribe to the Judaism religion are elaborate and strictly followed, according to encyclopaedias and other online resources reviewed by the Nation.

It emerges that “Cohen” is a special name among the Jews due to the fact that some people called so come from a family of priests or from the lineage of Aaron— the high priest who was a brother of the Biblical Moses.

According to reformjudaism.org, a website that discusses various aspects of Judaism, having such a name gives someone a certain status in society.

“Today, some Jews whose last name is Cohen, Kahn, or something similar and who believe they are descendants of the priestly class may still observe certain restrictions by, for example, not entering cemeteries,” it says.

“The Kohanim (plural of Kohen, translated into Swahili as ‘Kuhani’) and Levites had certain privileges and certain restrictions. Among the restrictions was that Kohanim could not come into contact with a corpse unless it was of a close relative, lest they be rendered impure,” adds the site.

QUICK BURIAL

Lawyer Danstan Omari told journalists that burial rites for a “Cohen” are special as each of the required 10 priests recites a certain verse during the ceremony.

The number of rabbis is not the only unique aspect of Jewish burial rites.

The Jewish Encyclopaedia, published in 1906, explains what is required of Jews from the time a person dies to the time of interment.

It states that quick burial is a must for any Jewish person and that cremation is considered a form of punishment.

Quick burial is necessitated by the fact that the Jewish frown upon the use of chemicals to preserve a body, preferring to have it decompose naturally.

The encyclopaedia says embalming “was extremely rare”.

“But — undoubtedly with the view of removing the odour — spices were put on the coffin or otherwise used at funerals,” says the publication.

It adds: “The reason assigned for the washing is the verse ‘As he came, so shall he go’ (Eccl. v. 15, Hebr.): ‘When born he is washed, and when dead he is washed.’”

WASHING THE BODY

Another key component of the burial rites is the washing of the body, called taharah, where the corpse is cleaned thoroughly then dried.

This task is performed by men and women who volunteer to conduct such rites.

Only members from the deceased person’s gender conduct the washing.

Some groups of Jews also had some sessions of the burial rites where only men attend, especially where the dead person is taken through a procession that makes at least seven stopovers before being lowered in the grave.

Sources say this practice is common in Yemenite Jews, and it is not clear whether there will be a time during Cohen’s burial where women (and boys below 13) will be barred from accessing.

WOMEN'S ROLE

The encyclopaedia also explains that women are expected to lead any funeral processions — for an interesting reason.

“The women went, as a rule, in front of the bier, the reason given … being that ‘woman brought death upon the world’; in reality because the mourning women singing the dirge and beating the drum led the funeral procession, as they still do in the East,” it says.

THE GRAVE

The announcement of Cohen’s burial said it was to be a private event, and that has a grounding in Jewish customs that required early burials.

“The law of burial is derived from Deut. xxi. 23, ‘Thou shalt bury him on that day,’ which is construed as a law affecting all men,” says the encyclopaedia.

However, among many early Jewish traditions, a dead person was placed in a tomb or grave that was not covered until three days after placing the corpse there.

“During the first three days it was customary for the relatives to visit the grave to see whether the dead had come to life again,” says the encyclopaedia.

Given that it took 63 days to find Cohen’s body after he went missing, it is unlikely that the tradition of covering the grave after three days — which The Jewish Encyclopaedia says is largely adhered to by Eastern Jews — will be observed.