Scenes from a Burial

Our first funeral in Israel. Mud. A shallow grave. The body, on a stretcher, wrapped in a shroud, no coffin, brought to the cemetery in an ambulance. The family, all חילוני (secular). The mother, screaming: "Jason, don't leave me!" The daughter, crying, fainted and fell to the ground, twice. The rabbi, disconnected, saying all the correct prayers (presumably) but unable to remember the name of the deceased, Jason ben Leonard (unspoken: "What kind of a Jewish name is that?"). המקום ינחם ... "The Place will comfort you ...". Just tromp through the mud that way, and turn right to return to the parking lot.

אל מלא רחמים שוכן במרומים,
המצא מנוחה נכונה על כנפי השכינה,
במעלות קדושים וטהורים, כזהר הרקיע מזהירים,
לנשמת ג'ייסון בן לנארד שהלך לעולמו,
בגן עדן תהא מנוחתו.
לכן בעל הרחמים יסתירהו בסתר כנפיו לעולמים
ויצרר בצרור החיים את נשמתו,
יי הוא נחלתו,
וינוח בשלום על משכבו,
ונאמר אמן.

G-d, full of compassion, dweller in the heights,
May he find true rest under the wings of the divine Presence,
In the holy and pure heights, in the bright shining firmament,
For the soul of Jason, son of Leonard, who has gone to his eternal rest.
In the Garden of Eden may his rest be.
And so, may the Master of the heights hide him in the hiding place of His wings forever
And bind his soul in the bonds of life,
And may he rest in peace on his bed,
And let us say, "Amen."