A recent poll shows that 62% of Israelis want a Jewish funeral, with the "traditional Chevra Kadisha."
"A joint poll conducted by Ynet and the Gesher foundation, found that 62% of Israelis would like to be buried in a religious ceremony, and, moreover, 51% of Israelis believe that the traditional Jewish funeral should not be altered."
Within Halacha, Jewish Law, there is a lot more room for innovation than most people would think.
It's just that in the cities, the Chevra Kadisha, burial societies, are Chareidi. Here in Shiloh, at the funerals conducted in our cemetery, the families have a lot of say as how the funerals will be conducted.
Females speak at the grave, wives, daughters, granddaughters, sisters... They aren't shunted aside.
"Forty three percent of secular Jews see no need to alter the traditional service, and an additional 9% would simply like to add additional readings and poems to the more time-honored prayers."
At our funerals there is a lot more to the ceremony than just the prayers.
"Who would Israelis like to preside over their funerals? On this issue, too, Israelis appear to be mostly in keeping with tradition. Thirty-six percent of Israelis would like to leave this task to the traditional Chevra Kadisha. Twenty-two percent of Israelis would like to designate this task to a close family member or friend; whereas an additional 19% would like to train Rabbis to help grieving families connect with a sense of Jewish identity and tradition. Whereas secular Jews would prefer to be buried by a family member of friend (34%), religious Jews, not surprisingly, would leave this task to the Chevra Kadisha."
Our neighbors and friends, of all professions, are in the local Chevra Kadisha.
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