page_title: Funeral
section_title: Visitation
hierarchical_section_title: Funeral / Western funerals / North American funerals / Visitation
caption_attribution_description: English: The tombstone of Yossele the Holy Miser found in the Remuh Cemetery in the Kazimierz Jewish quarter of Kraków, Poland. According to Jewish folklore, the wealthy Yossele, known as Yossele the Miser, was notorious for his stinginess. Upon his death though, it was discovered that he was in fact the principal source of charity for the Jewish community and he became a venerated figure. According to Jewish bereavement tradition, the dozens of stones on his tombstone mark respect for the Holy Miser.
context_page_description: A funeral is a ceremony connected with the final disposition of a corpse, such as a burial or cremation, with the attendant observances. Funerary customs comprise the complex of beliefs and practices used by a culture to remember and respect the dead, from interment, to various monuments, prayers, and rituals undertaken in their honor. Customs vary between cultures and religious groups. Common secular motivations for funerals include mourning the deceased, celebrating their life, and offering support and sympathy to the bereaved; additionally, funerals may have religious aspects that are intended to help the soul of the deceased reach the afterlife, resurrection or reincarnation.
  The funeral usually includes a ritual through which the corpse receives a final disposition. Depending on culture and religion, these can involve either the destruction of the body or its preservation. Differing beliefs about cleanliness and the relationship between body and soul are reflected in funerary practices. A memorial service is a funerary ceremony that is performed without the remains of the deceased person.
context_section_description: At the visitation (also called a "viewing", "wake" or "calling hours"), in Christian or secular Western custom, the body of the deceased person (or decedent) is placed on display in the casket (also called a coffin, however almost all body containers are caskets). The viewing often takes place on one or two evenings before the funeral. In the past, it was common practice to place the casket in the decedent's home or that of a relative for viewing. This practice continues in many areas of Ireland and Scotland. The body is traditionally dressed in the decedent's best clothes. In recent times there has been more variation in what the decedent is dressed in – some people choose to be dressed in clothing more reflective of how they dressed in life. The body will often be adorned with common jewelry, such as watches, necklaces, brooches, etc. The jewelry may be taken off and given to the family of the deceased prior to burial or be buried with the deceased. Jewelry has to be removed before cremation in order to prevent damage to the crematory. The body may or may not be embalmed, depending upon such factors as the amount of time since the death has occurred, religious practices, or requirements of the place of burial.
  The most commonly prescribed aspects of this gathering are that the attendees sign a book kept by the deceased's survivors to record who attended. In addition, a family may choose to display photographs taken of the deceased person during his/her life (often, formal portraits with other family members and candid pictures to show "happy times"), prized possessions and other items representing his/her hobbies and/or accomplishments. A more recent trend is to create a DVD with pictures and video of the deceased, accompanied by music, and play this DVD continuously during the visitation.
  The viewing is either "open casket", in which the embalmed body of the deceased has been clothed and treated with cosmetics for display; or "closed casket", in which the coffin is closed. The coffin may be closed if the body was too badly damaged because of an accident or fire or other trauma, deformed from illness, if someone in the group is emotionally unable to cope with viewing the corpse, or if the deceased did not wish to be viewed. In cases such as these, a picture of the deceased, usually a formal photo, is placed atop the casket.
  However, this step is foreign to Judaism; Jewish funerals are held soon after death (preferably within a day or two, unless more time is needed for relatives to come), and the corpse is never displayed. Torah law forbids embalming. Traditionally flowers (and music) are not sent to a grieving Jewish family as it is a reminder of the life that is now lost.  The Jewish shiva tradition discourages family members from cooking, so food is brought by friends and neighbors. (See also Jewish bereavement.)
  The decedent's closest friends and relatives who are unable to attend frequently send flowers to the viewing, with the exception of a Jewish funeral, where flowers would not be appropriate (donations are often given to a charity instead).
  Obituaries sometimes contain a request that attendees do not send flowers (e.g. "In lieu of flowers"). The use of these phrases has been on the rise for the past century. In the US in 1927, only 6% of the obituaries included the directive, with only 2.2% of those mentioned charitable contributions instead. By the middle of the century, they had grown to 14.5%, with over 54% of those noting a charitable contribution as the preferred method of expressing sympathy. Today, well over 87% of them have such a note – but those statistics vary demographically.
  The viewing typically takes place at a funeral home, which is equipped with gathering rooms where the viewing can be conducted, although the viewing may also take place at a church. The viewing may end with a prayer service; in a Roman Catholic funeral, this may include a rosary.
  A visitation is often held the evening before the day of the funeral. However, when the deceased person is elderly the visitation may be held immedi
caption: The tombstone of Yossele the Holy Miser. According to Jewish bereavement tradition, the dozens of stones on his tombstone mark respect for the Holy Miser.
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