Interesting...

You would think that Judaism represents a bulwark against the increasing practice of cremation... but you would  be wrong. Cremation remains a taboo among most Jews, especially in Orthodox Judaism but also in the more liberal groups. No one has any hard numbers on how prevalent the practice of cremation is among Jews. Conversations with Jewish funeral professionals from across the country suggest that the proportion of Jews who choose cremation varies widely by geography but they do agree the numbers are increasing.

Though both Orthodox and non-Orthodox rabbinical authorities frown on cremation, Jewish law is not unclear about it and directly bans the practice. It is common to have both Conservative and Reform rabbis officiate at the funerals of people who will be cremated but Orthodox groups allow no such leeway to their rabbis.

According to figures from the Cremation Association of North America, cremations have risen nearly three-fold since the mid-1980s to about 40% of all funerals.  Depending upon the place, the rate for Jews may vary between 3% to as high as 15% in some cities.  Interestingly, the Jews have the same issues with the ashes as others -- many of them refuse to claim the ashes and the remains then are left unburied.  This is even more troubling to Jewish religious leaders.

“Jews have always had the tradition, going back to biblical times, to create a space on earth to mourn the dead,” said Rabbi Andy Bachman, spiritual leader of Congregation Beth Elohim, a Reform synagogue in Brooklyn. “The simplest way to put it is, if you go all the way back to Abraham’s first act after Sarah died, it was to secure a plot of land in order to bury her.”

Apparently, Christians, Jews, and non-Christians share an inclination to cremation for the same reasons -- it is cheap, it is quick, and it is easy.  I am not at all sure these are the most important criteria for deciding what to do with the remains of a loved one, but this is the direction we see -- even among those with the strongest historical precedents against cremation.

It also appears that cremation seems to be losing its stigma for both Christians and Jews, well on its way to becoming the most predominant funeral practice.  What is the common lament among Christians and Jews is that our burial practices are further and further removed from the context of what we believe, confess, and teach and more and more tied to a pragmatic view of the minimum that needs to be done.  It appears that for all religions, the almighty dollar trumps the Almighty Word and its tradition.  If it can happen so easily and so quickly for burial practices, who is to say what else cannot be changed?!