 We're now living at a time when long cherished Jewish practices are being abandoned or challenged. For example, circumcision was almost universally practiced as a rite of passage by families, even families, who observe very little else in Judaism. But in recent decades, circumcision itself is being challenged. Similarly, traditional Jewish burial has seen a dramatic decline in favor of cremation. There was one informal study that was done in New York by a Jewish funeral home in New York about six years ago that reported that at least 25% of the dead were being cremated. Now, New York Jewry is generally more traditional than Jewish communities outside of New York. So the national average is probably a bit higher than 25%. In addition, this study was done of Jewish funeral homes. Now, we can imagine that many American Jews probably don't even make use of the services of a Jewish funeral home. They might prefer a non-religious general funeral facility. So that number of 25% of Jews being cremated could actually be quite a bit higher. It seems that the major reason today that people are preferring cremation to traditional burial when thinking about end-of-life issues is because it is less expensive than traditional Jewish burial. Another factor which I think is very important, critically important, is simply a lack of awareness about the importance of traditional Jewish burial and the problems inherent with cremation. So in that light, I'd like to rehearse some of the major issues now. First of all, as human beings, we are both physical and spiritual. God formed our bodies out of the dust of the earth and breathed a godly soul into our physical form. At death, our soul leaves our body and returns to a purely spiritual realm. But our body comes from the ground, from the earth. And that's why the human being is called Adam because we come from the Adamah. The human is called human, Adam and Hebrew because we come from the Adamah, from the earth. And so the Torah says in Genesis chapter 3 verse 19, for dust you are and to the dust you will return. The beginning of the Bible already says that as human beings, at the end of our life, will return to the ground. And that's why, by the way, Jewish burial is always in a plain wooden casket so that the casket itself will ultimately decompose and allow the body to reunite with the earth from which it was taken. Secondly in Jewish thought, our bodies do not belong to ourselves. We're not able to do to our bodies whatever we please. They ultimately belong to their maker. And that's why the Torah prohibits harming or defacing our bodies in any way because our bodies bear the stamp of the divine image. So therefore, unless there is a seriously pressing reason, Torah law prohibits autopsies or things like cosmetic surgery. For similar reasons, funerals are arranged to take place as soon as possible after the death. Just like other objects of holiness that have become worn out like religious books or a talus, a prayerish wall, are not simply discarded in the garbage, but they are treated with respect and they're actually buried. The human body achieves a level of holiness through the good deeds that it does, through the commandments that it fulfills. And it should be buried intact to show honor and respect to the body. Number three, the Bible teaches, this is clearly taught in the 12th chapter of the book of Daniel, that one day there'll be a resurrection of the dead. Maimonides includes belief in the resurrection as one of his 13 essential principles of Jewish belief. Cremation is basically a rejection of this belief. Jewish mystical teaching maintains that at the time of burial there is a bone that's called the lose, which is in the back of our necks, that never decomposes. And it's from this bone called the lose bone that our souls will be reunited with our resurrected bodies in the messianic age. Cremation can destroy this bone and it can make resurrection very difficult. Number four, death, as we all know, is an uncomfortable reality. We don't like to think about it, we don't like to speak about it. Cremation is an attempt to get it all over with as quickly as possible and avoid what is seen as the gruesomeness of burial and decomposition. However, death is significant and maybe it shouldn't be rushed through and quickly forgotten. Not only is a dignified Jewish burial a respectful returning of the body to its source, it is critical for loved ones to be able to experience the ritual of opening up a grave in the ground, a hole in the earth that represents the gaping hole that is in our lives now. The burial process, the funeral service, is a deeply symbolic one and a deeply meaningful one and a necessary one for the survivors to be able to process their loss. Cremation is not less gruesome than burial. In cremation the body roasts in an oven at 1700 degrees Fahrenheit for up to two hours. It's hard to imagine after the Holocaust people choosing to have this done. And then the remains that were not reduced to ash are put through a grinder to make sure they'll fit into an urn. Brooms are used to sweep the ashes out of the oven and when the brooms are not cleaned well different people's ashes can be mixed together. Burial is not pleasant but neither is cremation. At least burial is natural. Rabbi Doron Kornbluth, who authored an important book on the topic of cremation, notes that funeral directors have told him that many families ultimately regret their decision to cremate. No one regrets giving their relative a proper Jewish burial. And one of the reasons people sometimes regret cremating their lost relatives is that they make the decision when they didn't really have the presence of mind to carefully consider the decision. And they now regret the loss of a time to properly mourn and having a place where they can come with other members of the Jewish community to visit the grave of their loved one. And this lack of closure is often a difficult one for them to handle. Now when all factors are considered some cremation ceremonies are actually about as expensive as traditional burials. There are streamlined cremations that can be significantly cheaper than burial but a few things should be considered. Number one, there are things in life that are worth spending money on if they're important. Jewish education is worthwhile and so committed Jews spend money in order to give their children a proper Jewish education. The truth is that there are many non-essentials in life that we find the ability to spend money on such as entertainment and vacations. If burial, traditional proper Jewish burial is important, we will budget the money for it. It's something that we will try to budget the money for and find the money for. Number two, there are ways of decreasing the expenses of a traditional Jewish funeral. Sometimes during their time of grief, families might feel pressured to purchase costly services that are not absolutely necessary. And so many communities today across North America and possibly elsewhere will help families arrange for simple and yet dignified Jewish burial that are very reasonably priced. And it's important I think that more and more communities have such programs to allow more and more people to consider the important option of traditional Jewish burial.