Winehouse cremation: learning moment for Rabbi Perl

The longtime Chabad shaliach to Mineola, Rabbi Anchelle Perl, is no stranger to contemporary events, often using them as a tool to promote Jewish observance. Following the cremation of British pop singer Amy Winehouse on July 26, Rabbi Perl used the news story to explain the halachic ban on cremation. “Cremation puts the traditional Jewish burial in grave danger,” Rabbi Perl said. “I have recently received too many calls to help stop a cremation.”

A nonobservant Jew, Winehouse, 27, wore a Star of David in public and her family is observing shiva at their north London home. Winehouse had a history of drug and alcohol abuse that may have contributed to her death.

Orthodox Jewish tradition holds that the body cannot be tampered with, and must be washed and buried in perfect condition, as testament to the belief that it will be revived after the arrival of the Moshiach. In recent years, cremations have picked up among the non-Orthodox, finding it to be less expensive in comparison to burials, and less burdensome in terms of visiting the dead, whose ashes are stored in small urns. “I was alarmed to find a growing number of Jewish families opting to cremate,” Rabbi Perl said.

Rabbi Perl explains that a traditional burial affirms the belief of life after death and its ultimate return to life, describing the body as an eternal partner of the soul. He attributed the rise of cremations among Jews to a lack of understanding of tradition.

Describing one congregant’s visit to a cremation wake as awkward, Rabbi Perl said that it is difficult to imagine a loved one’s remains burned and stuffed into an urn. “Here was a group of people coming to pay their respects to a loved one. Try as she might, she was unable to make the association between her friend and the urn,” Rabbi Perl said. “Being cremated is unfair to the mourners. They cannot be expected to say farewell to an urn. They have no gravesite to visit. The soul has no resting place in this world.”