"L'SHEM YEE'CHUD KUD'SHA, B'REEKH HU, U'SH'KHEEN'TAY; AHL Y'DEY HA'HU BID'CHILU UR'CHIMU L'YA'CHED SHEM -YOD-HEH B'VAV-HEH B'Y'CHUDA SH'LIM (For the sake of the unification of the Sacred Wellspring [the Holy Blessed One] and the Shekhina through this holy rite, done in awe and in love to join our loved one with the ancestors, as we join together the Sacred Name Yod-Heh [YAH] with the Sacred Name Vav-Heh [VAH] in a complete, harmonious union of soul with Soul)."

TRADITIONAL (Sephardic Orthodox)

Before the funeral, the body, prepared and washed by the lavadores at the funeral home, is robed in a simple shroud of pure white linen and placed with some Terre Santa (soil from Israel) in the plain, wooden coffin, which is then closed.

The lavadores then recite the following Biblical verses

Your people take pleasure in Zion's stones, and love her dust.

In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread (from the earth) as long as you are alive, for out of the earth were you taken; dust you are and to dust you shall return to being.

The dust shall return to the earth from where it came, and the spirit (breath) shall return to the Divine Breather who breathed it.

Hinneh mitatto sheliShlomo: Sheesheem giboreem saviv lah, migiboray Yisrael. Kulam achuzay cherev, melumday milchamah, eesh charbo 'al yereykho mipachad balaylot.

Behold! The bed of King Solomon! Sixty mighty angels surround it; they are the same sixty who guard Israel. They are learned in the kabbalah and in the mysticism of the Winds, to guard us on the Path through the Vally of the Shadow of Death.

May the Eternal Infinite One bless you and protect you; May the Eternal Infinite One shine His Face upon you and be gracious to you; May the Eternal Infinite One lift up Her Face to you and grant you harmony and PEACE.

Psalm 23 or Psalm 90 is recited

Biblical verses
"When the ark moved forward Moses would say, 'Rise up, O ADONAI, and may Your enemies be scattered, and they who hate You will flee from before You.'"

"For (God) will give the angels responsibility over you
To guard you in all your ways.
They shall bear you on their hands
Lest you hit your foot against a stone.
No evil shall befall you,
Nor shall any heartache come near your home.
ADONAI Unconquerable,
ADONAI is God's Name.
ADONAI shall do battle for you,
And you - MEDITATE ON THIS!"

As the coffin containing the body of the deceased is carried to the "Metaher-House" (mortuary chapel), the 91st Psalm is chanted.

ALL PSALMS AND PRAYERS ARE PERMITTED TO BE CHANTED IN ANY LANGUAGE THAT IS UNDERSTOOD.

In the tradition of the Jews of Rhodes and Turkey Psalms 49; 16; 130; 121; and 23 are recited in the beginning of the funeral. Then the EULOGY by the rabbi or other person[s] is given. After the eulogy, everyone rises as the TSIDDUK HADIN (see below) is recited.

The names of the pallbearers at the chapel and at the cemetery are announced, as well as the location and time of internment.

This is followed by the recital of Psalm 91.

At the cemetery, Psalm 91 is again recited and Barukh Atah ADONAI......asher yatzar.....[A Source of blessing are You, ADONAI, our Creator Force, Guide of the Universe; By Your established law ] (see below).

On arrival at the funeral site, room or home, the following prayer is recited:

A Source of blessing are You, ADONAI, our Creator Force, Guide of the Universe; By Your established law You have formed us, by Your law You have endowed us with life, and by Your law You sustain us continually. By Your law You determine the number of all Your children, and by that law You will return us to renewed life hereafter. BARUKH ATAH YHVH MECHAYEYH HAMEYTEEM! (Source of blessing are You, ADONAI, who renews life to the dead).

At the mortuary chapel these verses and the dirge for the seven circuits (rodeamentos) of the mourners around the casket are chanted.

ADONAI, mah-adam vateyda'eyhu, ben-enosh vatchashveyhu? (O ADONAI, what is a person that You take notice of him, the child of a mortal that You even take thought of him?)

Adam lahevel damah. Yamav ketzeyl 'oveyr (A person is a vain mortal, his days are but a passing shadow).

Mee gever yichyeh velo yireh-mavet. Yemalet nafsho miyad-sheol selah (Who is such a being that he lives and will not experience death, or that his soul will escape the grave? Selah -it is sealed!)

Adam yelud eeshah. Ketzar yameem usva' rogez (A person is born of a woman, yet has only a few days and is continually cared for).

Ketzeetz yatza vayimal. Vayivrach katzel velo ya'amod (Like a flower, he comes forth and is cut down. like a shadow, he flees and does not stand still).

Mah-enosh kee-tizkerenu. Uven-adam kee tifekdenu (What is this frail person that You should take notice of him in Your mind; a child of another human, that You should concern Yourself with him?)

Vatchasreyhu me'at meyeloheem; vekhavod vehadar te'atreyhu (Yet You have made man to be slightly less than the angels; and have crowned him with glory and majesty).

THE SEVEN CIRCUITS (RODEAMENTOS)

CIRCUIT 1 - ALEPH

Have mercy we pray on this child of Yours,
You are a Father-Mother of tenderest love and life,
You are ADONAI universal from whose great hand
There flows every river and source of life.

In new realms of life may Your child now progress,
The soul-breath held serene in the bond of life.

CIRCUIT 2 - BEYT

With merciful pity forgive his (her) faults
And look on the good that he (she) did in life.
To You may he (she) come with the true and pure,
Advancing before You in new realms of life.

In new realms of life may Your child now progress,
The soul-breath held serene in the bond of life.

CIRCUIT 3 - GIMEL

May he (she) be remembered for a good reward
Fulfilling the Prophet's clear word of life:
"With him (her) be My promise of life and peace."
His (Her) soul rest secure in the bond of eternal life.

In new realms of life may Your child now progress,
The soul-breath held serene in the bond of life.

CIRCUIT 4 - DALET

May the celestial gates be opened before him (her)
So as to enter God's realm where the good have life.
May guardian angels receive him (her) there
With joy as he (she) rises to a destined renewal of life.

In new realms of life may Your child now progress,
The soul-breath held serene in the bond of life.

CIRCUIT 5 - HEH

His (Her) soul led by angels to Machpelah's cave
And from thence to God's Eden Garden of future life,
Led on by the Pillar of Cloud and Fire
Eminent, as he (she) rises to renewal of life.

In new realms of life may Your child now progress,
The soul-breath held serene in the bond of life.

CIRCUIT 6 - VAV

From Chamber to Chamber may angelic guides
In love lead him (her) on to the God Source of life,
Where all righteous saints shall be welcoming
His (Her) soul as he (she) rises to a renewal of life.

In new realms of life may Your child now progress,
The soul-breath held serene in the bond of life.

CIRCUIT 7 - ZAYIN

May he (she) rest for awhile in the bosom of his (her) ancestors
Immortally held lovingly in the bond of Eternal Life
In Paradise, soul lifted from an earthen grave
To bliss as he (she) rises on to a renewal of life.

In renewed realms of life may Your child now progress,
The soul-breath held serene in the bond of life.

The coffin is carried to the grave while PSALM 91 (for a man) or PSALM 16 (for a woman) is intoned. As the coffin is lowered into the grave, all present say:

"And God is merciful, forgives error and does not totally destroy, in fact, many times averts the bad goral (karma) and does not allow an evil result."

Vehu rachum. Yekhapeyr 'avon. Velo yashcheet. Vehirbah lehasheev apo. Velo y'eer kol-chamato!

The mourners and then all present put a shovel full (or handful) of earth into the open grave. When the grave has been filled in, the mourners bend down and touch the grave with their left hand as they say three times: (from Isaiah 58: 11)

Venachakha ADONAI tameed vehisbee'a betzachtzachot nafshekha. Ve'atzmotekha yachaleetz. Vehayeeta kegan raveh. Ukhmotza mayim asher lo yekhazvu maymav.

(ADONAI will permanently guide you and will satiate your soul in a time of thirst. God will give strength to your skeleton (literally- your tree of death). You will become like a watered garden whose fountain of water (of life) never ceases).

The mourners wash their hands on returning to the Metaher-house (funeral home) and say:

Yadeynu lo shafkhuh et-hadam hazeh. Ve'eyneynu lo rau

"Our hands have not shed this life, neither have our eyes witnessed it (being shed)."

TSIDDUK HADIN - JUSTIFICATION OF THE DIVINE DECREE

Tzadeek Atah ADONAI veyashar mishpatekha
You are righteous, O LORD, and Your judgments are just.

Tzadeek ADONAI bekhol-derakhav; vechaseed bekhol-ma'asav
The LORD is righteous in all Your Paths; and lovingkindness is in all that You do.

Tzidkatekha tzedek le'olam; veToratekha emet
Your righteousness is an everlasting righteousness; and Your Torah is truth.

Mishpetey-ADONAI emet; tzadku yachdav
The judgments of the LORD are true; and altogether just.

Baasher devar-melekh shilton; umee yomar-lo mah ta'aseh
As the word of the Sovereign is supreme; who can say, "What is this that You do?"

Vehu veechad umee yesheevenu; venafsho ivtah vaya'as
God alone is God; Who turns God's Will aside? That which the Divine Spirit wills, it does.

Hatzur tameed pa'alo; kee khol-derakhav mishpat
The work of our Rock is perfect; and God's Paths are just.

El emunah veayn 'avel; tzadeek veyashar hu
God is faithful and has no imperfection; a righteous and true Judge is God.

Dayan emet; shofeyt tzedek vaemet
God is the True Judge; who judges with righteousness and truth.

Barukh dayan haemet; kee khol-mishpatav tzedek veemet
A Source of blessing is the True Judge; whose judgments are all right and true.

The HASHKABAH (see SIDE-BAR) is then recited, and the following verses introduce the BURIAL KADDISH

Ancient Jewish Prayer for the Dead

Compassionate One,

remember now

the precious soul of

(name of the deceased)

who returned

to the realm from which she had

originally come to spend time

with us in this life. May her

soul be intertwined with your

great spirit, the source of all life,

and in the warmth and serenity

of your wings. May her spirit be

joined with the spirits of [her/his] (for Jewish person: our)

ancestors (for Jewish person: Sarah and Abraham),

and with the spirits of other

great women and men who now

dwell in the Bliss of Paradise.


Source of all Blessing are you,

Yah, breath of all life, who created

(name of the deceased)

and graced us with the gift of her

presence in our lives. You chose

to bring her into being on our plane,

and you chose to call her back to

your realm, in your own

mysterious way. We thank you, Creator

of life and death for the time we had

with our beloved and ask you to comfort

us now for our sense of loss in our lives

and for our somber encounter with our own

mortality in this moment. Renew in us

the faith that -- in your unending love --

death is but a journey of the spirit from

the finite realm of physical being to the

infinite realm of your eternal embrace.

For the soul of the human is a spark of

the divine. Wellspring of blessing

are you, Yah, breath of all life, who is

with us in life and in death.

CLICK ON THE SIDE-BAR LINK FOR THE "BURIAL KADDISH"

TO LEARN THE ECOREBBE'S TEACHINGS ABOUT LIFE AFTER DEATH, REINCARNATION, AND RESSURECTION, CLINK ON THIS LINK

TO LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR ORGANIZATION, CLICK ON THIS LINK

TO LEARN THE TEACHINGS OF THE ECOREBBE, RABBI GERSHON CAUDILL, CLICK ON THIS LINK