RE: wake for Jerry Williams

["Paul Hopfgarten" <paul@03038.com>]

Everything you said sounds correct. While I am not Jewish myself, my wife is
Jewish, and I have (unfortunately) been to my share of shivas.

One of the 1st things I (as a Catholic) found unusual was no "Wake" or
viewing the deceased. Unless there was a horrible disfigurement, the "open
casket" was just something I thought was the norm. When my wife's mother
died (first time at ANY Jewish occasion for me), I remember thinking how odd
that the body is not seen, and equally odd that you'd sit for 7 days. Oh,
and the body is supposed to be buried within 24 hours if at all possible
(though I don't really know the reason why)

I guess the most interesting part is the great disparity in Jewish and
Catholic customs for dealing with death...

Paul Hopfgarten
East Derry NH 03041
paul@03038.com


> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-boston-radio-interest@bostonradio.org
> [mailto:owner-boston-radio-interest@bostonradio.org]On Behalf Of
> Dan.Strassberg@att.net
> Sent: Wednesday, April 30, 2003 6:52 AM
> To: Bob Nelson
> Cc: dan.strassberg@att.net; boston-radio-interest@bostonradio.org
> Subject: Re: wake for Jerry Williams
>
>
> Shiva is the appropriate term but my understanding is that Shiva
> doesn't start
> until after the burial. It's a very humane custom. Friends visit
> the bereaved
> and try to cheer them up. It is customary to bring some sweets as
> a gift--the
> idea is to make sure that those in mourning don't forget to eat.
> Other parts of
> the tradition also make perfect sense to me; all of the mirrors
> in the house
> are supposed to be covered--apparently so the mourners won't see
> themselves
> when they look terrible from crying. In Orthodox homes, I believe
> that Shiva
> goes on for a week, but there are exceptions. For example, Shiva
> ends when Yom
> Kippur starts.
>
> It would probably be good if someone more observant than I (which
> means almost
> anybody who is Jewish) wrote on this topic. I'm just about the
> last Jew in the
> world that one should think of consulting on matters of Jewish tradition.
> --
> dan.strassberg@att.net
> 617-558-4205
> eFax 707-215-6367
>
> > --- dan.strassberg@att.net wrote:
> > > A WAKE? He was Jewish--unless he converted, which he
> > > could have. His second
> > > wife wasn't Jewsih.
> >
> > I knew he was Jewish, but I didn't know the proper
> > term for "visiting hours"-- "sitting shiva"? The way
> > it was described was "you can pay your respects to
> > Jerry at..." I was taking the chance that the term
> > "wake" may also be used by Jews, but I guess not...
>