The
New York Times reported yesterday on the arrangements at the scene of the Pittsburgh synagogue massacre to assure that bodies of the victims were handled in conformity with Jewish religious law:
All night long, Jewish volunteers stood solemnly in the rain outside the Tree of Life synagogue, where 11 dead bodies lay inside, sealed off with yellow crime-scene tape. The deceased were not supposed to be left alone, according to Jewish tradition, from the moment of death until burial. So when the medical examiner removed the bodies at 5 a.m. Sunday, the volunteers were there to escort them to the morgue....
Once homicide investigators give them the all clear, they intend to meticulously clean the crime scene. They consider everything left behind to be sacred remains, to be preserved and buried with the bodies....
Although autopsies are generally avoided in Jewish tradition, there was no doubt that each of the bodies would need to be examined for evidence in the criminal case. Once the bodies were with the medical examiner, Mr. Wasserman [head of the burial society] ensured that a shomer, as the guard is called in Hebrew, was in the building to keep watch over them as they went through the process.
[Thanks to Steven H. Sholk for the lead.]
