The Jewish difference
Menachem Begin ordered “a simple Jewish funeral, “ which he got a few hours after he died in Tel Aviv at the age of 78.
Begin was buried on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem beside his beloved wife, Aliza.
U.S. Vice President Dan Quayle was poised to fly to Israel to represent the American government at the ceremonies. So were former President Jimmy Carter and former Secretary of State Cyrus Vance. But their trips were cancelled when the timing of the ceremonies was announced.
Begin’s son, Binyamin Ze’ev Begin, told the government’s Ceremonies Committee, that the family wanted a “Jewish funeral, not an international event”. Nevertheless, at the graveside with “Benny” Begin and his sisters, stood President Chaim Herzog of Israel, Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir, Labor Party Chairman Yitzhak Rabin. There were also thousands of mourners from every walk of life and every political persuasion.
Religious Jews and secular ones alike, Ashkenazim and Sephardim, new immigrants and veteran sabras massed outside the funeral parlour in Jerusalem and followed the procession to the Mount of Olives cemetery.
Seven of Begin’s former comrades-in-arms of the Irgun served as pallbearers. Benny Begin recited Kaddish at his father’s grave. Begin’s loyal friend and longtime personal aide, Yehiel Kadishai, recited El Maleh Rachamim. After the family and dignitaries left the grave, thousands of onlookers broke through the human chain of police to pay their last respects. Some saluted, and others laid stones on the mound of earth.
[This is from the Jewish Telegraph Agency 10 March 1992]
These days thousands of U.K. citizens line up to pay their honour to the Queen. Ten days of mourning have been proclaimed. Heads of State and personalities from all over the world will gather in Westminster. Soldiers in uniforms have paid their respects. Among them was the new King, in his military regalia.
What a difference. Menachem Begin had been one of the great leaders, if not the greatest, of Israeli history and of 20th-century Jewish history. He led the War of Israeli Independence and was the hero for the Israeli working class. He made peace with Egypt and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
Yet, as the media reported, his funeral was unbelievably simple "frown on floral displays, and lie in state".
The difference between a Jewish leader's funeral and the funerals of a European Sovereign is massive.
As a rule, the bodies of the European Royals are preserved. And so is Queen Elisabeth's. Sophisticated technologies, like a special kind of coffin, have been put in place to slow the natural process. The royal bodies are believed to be holy. People often mention an aura of reverence or history around a monarch's body. Someone even compared the relation with the monarch to the relationship with God (talking about idolatry…)
Until the 18th Century, it was widely believed in Europe that the touch of French and English Royal could heal skin diseases. On certain days of the year, the King received the ill subjects and laid his hands over their body to heal them. Until 1732 the ritual was codified even in the Common Book of Prayer with a specific liturgy. The great French Jewish historian Marc Bloch has written a seminal study on this peculiar belief ("The Royal Touch" 1st ed, 1973). They believed the Kings had the power to heal those diseases that affected the patient's skin and made them look older. The belief was that King had the power to halt time. And as such, his body had to be preserved, protected and put outside of time.
We don't know whether the Queen had opted to be embalmed, as in the case of many of her ancestors or -back in time we Jews are familiar with -like the Egyptian Pharaos. But we know that the marshal, the courtiers and those taking care of her funeral, choosing the coffin, organising the ceremony, and so on, are all following the same imperative. To slow the process of time.
How different are things for us Jews. As exemplified by the funeral of Menachem Begin, in Judaism, the burial must occur as soon as possible, the following day or even the same day if the passing had happened in Jerusalem. Even the President of the USA did not have the authority to change these rules.
Family and friends escort the coffin, quite often in a chaotic way. At Begin's funeral, the crowd even broke the barriers. There's no order in a Jewish funeral. There are no ranks in the procession. The death has just happened, and the mourners are still in shock. We return to behave orderly only when we line up to extend condolences, only at the shiva, in the evening.
Contrary to the European Royals, we Jews don't try to slow the time. Instead, we acknowledge the passing of time. This allows us, Jews, to own the memory of our beloved.
Jewish graves are notoriously simple. We avoid monuments. The most beautiful memorial a Jew can aspire to is the memory of the many mitzvahs done in life. We place stones on the graves because stones last more than flowers. Flowers suffer over time, stones do not. By placing the stone, we show that we have been there, that the individuals continue to live on in our memory, not with their bodies.
It is, as I said, a stark contrast with Western civilisation. They try to slow time; we own time.
As English Jews, we can (and I think we must) pay honour to the Queen, together with our non-Jewish fellow citizens. We follow the law of the Country. Yet, the Jewish approach to death and the Jewish funerals radically differ from what we currently see.
Now I'd like you to think about another essential difference between the general culture and our specific Jewish culture. And it's about guilt.
In Western culture, guilt and death are connected. Christians believe that our souls deal with guilt -by suffering- after the end of the bodies, in the afterlife. Traces of this belief -that humans expiate the sins after death- are even present in the atheists' minds, like those who have cursed Queen Elisabeth after her death, in a very telling example of bad taste.
I mean: she is dead, you are supposed to be an atheist; what do you care about her soul and where it is? Clearly, the belief that after death, one deals with the sins is so widespread that even atheists subscribe to it,
This is not how Judaism works. We deal with our sins, transgressions, and mistakes during certain days of the year. This period is about to begin this evening with the Selichot, a service named after the most important element of the reconciliation process.
Slicha, apology. This evening's service is called "Apologies". And it inaugurates the period of the year during which we deal with our sins and mistakes. A period which will culminate on Yom Kippur. We do not have to expect the time of our death to make amend. We can begin now.
It's another remarkable contrast with Western civilisation, and I believe the Jewish approach works better. It's enormously easier to acknowledge our mistakes while knowing that our fellow Jew who sits next to us is doing the same. The community's support is so important when we try to overcome our limitations.
Once again, it's about time. We can decide to bear a grudge, remain stuck in the moment when we have been offended and embalm our wounded feelings. Or we can choose to enter the process of healing with the support of our friends and of our Tradition, expressed in prayers and rituals, in the series of days that begins this evening.
As British citizens, we can decide to join our co-citizens in mourning for the Queen. Or we can use this long weekend -like many other British citizens do- to rest, have fun, and watch The Crown on Netflix.
But as Jews, we also have an extraordinary opportunity that our Tradition offers. Come to the Selichot service and start with our fellow Jews on the journey towards teshuva, change and return.
It's a great opportunity.
Not to be missed for sure. See you this evening.