Funeral Ceremony
Our divine law has also provided for the decent burial of the dead, without extravagant burial rites or the building of illustrious monuments. Rather, it enjoined that the funeral arrangements be performed by the nearest relative, and it regulated that all who pass by when a person is being buried should accompany the funeral and join in the lamentation. It further ordains that the house and its residents be purified following the funeral rites, in order that anyone who has committed murder might be kept at a great distance from the appearance of being pure.
Translated by William Whiston, adapted by Aaron Samuels.
Published in: The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, vol. 2: Emerging Judaism.
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m. Bava Batra 6:8
If a man sold to his fellow a place in which to make a tomb, and likewise, if a man was commissioned by his fellow to make a tomb, he must make the inside of the vault four cubits by six and open…
Laboring for the Dead
m. Mo‘ed Katan 1:5–6
5. [ . . . ] Furthermore R. Meir said: A man may gather his father’s and mother’s bones, since this is a joy for him. R. Yosi says: It is mourning for him. A man should not stir up wailing for his…
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m. Mo‘ed Katan 3:7–9
7. [Mourners] do not rend [their clothes] or bare [their shoulders, and others] do not provide a meal [for them] except for the relatives of the dead. And they do not provide a meal except on an…
The Mishnah on Reciting the Blessing for Mourners
m. Megillah 4:3
We do not perform [the mourning rite of] standing and sitting [seven times on the way home from accompanying a corpse to the grave], or recite the blessing for mourners, or [perform the rite of]…
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