This photo of a billboard appeared on my Facebook feed recently. It reads, “Being cremated is my last hope for a smoking hot body.”
A lot of people want to get a smoking hot body these days. The national cremation rate in America keeps creeping upward in the 40% plus range. The National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA) projects the U.S. will reach a national 50% average by 2015.
Traditionally, Catholics and Jews resisted cremation, preferring whole body burial. I just did a short talk about the reasons behind the burial preference over cremation.
Here’s the text of the introduction, followed by the video of the talk.
In addition to being The Doyenne of Death®, Gail Rubin is the President of the Jewish-Christian Dialogue of New Mexico. She helps start conversations between religions on a wide range of topics. Of course, her favorite topic is funeral planning. As a member of the Jewish burial society, called the Chevrah Kaddisha, she has washed, dressed and casketed bodies for burial in the traditional Jewish manner. She also serves on the cemetery committee for Congregation Albert, helping to maintain and improve this historic burial ground.
Today, Gail will inform us on the topic of Jews and cremation. Please welcome Gail Rubin.
