The dead are buried in the earth. “For dust you are and to dust you shall return”(Genesis3:10).

We show our respect and love for the dead through personal involvement in the funeral and burial. Some follow the practice that the procession pause several times on its way to the grave.

It is appropriate for relatives and friends to drop several spadefuls of earth on the lowered coffin, a final act of loving-kindness, (chesed shel emet) reflecting their constant concern for one whom they loved.

After reciting Kaddish, the mourners walk between two lines formed by the others present, who say Hamakom yunakhem etkhem b’tokh sh’ar aveilei tzion virushalayim. “May the Almighty comfort you with all the other mourners of Zion and Jerusalem.”

It is customary to rinse the hands as an act of symbolic purification before entering the home upon returning from the cemetery.