http://www.wornthrough.com/2009/08/18/mourning-costumes-and-religion/ Sat, 04 Feb 2012 22:52:32 -0800 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1 http://www.wornthrough.com/2009/08/18/mourning-costumes-and-religion/comment-page-1/#comment-17404 Bruce David Wilner Sun, 07 Mar 2010 03:14:17 +0000 http://www.wornthrough.com/?p=4571#comment-17404 We recently interred my 86-year-old father. After considerable, albeit lightning-fast, research, we were steered to a small, family-owned funeral home that was the only authentic Jewish establishment in the Washington, DC, metropolitan area: the others were swallowed up by goyish mega-firms that ascribe to "approved" rituals and procedures. My question is this: why am I unable to find any constancy among the so-called "traditional" graveclothes, the tachrichim? The tachrichim on display at our chosen funeral home (hand-woven by a Kenyan Jewess, and displayed on a female mannequin) looked, for all the world, like something straight out of a Blake's entombed Jesus or a Renaissance interpretation of Lazarus: the two-piece garment formed a hooded (cowled, more accurately) robe, including a sudarium to fully cover the face. I see nothing like this suit of clothes on the numerous (well, not all that numerous, actually) Web sites that purport to depict "authentic" Jewish burial shrouds. We recently interred my 86-year-old father. After considerable, albeit lightning-fast, research, we were steered to a small, family-owned funeral home that was the only authentic Jewish establishment in the Washington, DC, metropolitan area: the others were swallowed up by goyish mega-firms that ascribe to “approved” rituals and procedures. My question is this: why am I unable to find any constancy among the so-called “traditional” graveclothes, the tachrichim? The tachrichim on display at our chosen funeral home (hand-woven by a Kenyan Jewess, and displayed on a female mannequin) looked, for all the world, like something straight out of a Blake’s entombed Jesus or a Renaissance interpretation of Lazarus: the two-piece garment formed a hooded (cowled, more accurately) robe, including a sudarium to fully cover the face. I see nothing like this suit of clothes on the numerous (well, not all that numerous, actually) Web sites that purport to depict “authentic” Jewish burial shrouds.

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