Why are Jewish coffins not allowed to be made of metal?

 

No metal: Jews can’t be buried in their Cadillac:

Way back when the Romans were still building roads to expand their Empire, everyone was buried in super-fancy clothing, super-fancy coffins, with super-fancy grave markers, and plenty of grave-goods, with a huge funeral party (emphasis on party?) needing hired mourners, hired women to shriek and wail and claw their faces with their own nails, and more. None of this came cheap. Some families would impoverish themselves to make a proper funeral.

Or if you’re going to do a burning, don’t forget plenty of sacrificial meat, and you still need the wailing women etc.

If you can’t do it right, don’t do it at all.

In many parts of Roman society, people who could not afford a _proper_ funeral would rather throw the dearly departed in a ditch, rather than face the embarrassment of admitting they lacked the funding. Or that they would rather spend the money on the living, not the dead.

Since this was the custom of the times, Jewish people did the same.

One Jewish leader decided enough was enough, for the Jews if not the Romans et al. He decreed that after his own death, he would be buried in plain linen shrouds, and in a plain wooden (pine) box.

A grateful nation followed his example, and funerals were made simpler, cheaper, and manageable.

Even today, a plain pine box is cheaper than a fine mahogany box with silk lining and brass handles. The expense and show is not for the dead, they really don’t care at that point.

Except for the man buried in his Cadillac. I guess he cared, at least before he died. So did the guy on his Harley. I guess we can’t laugh at the ancients being buried with grave-goods if modern folks do the same thing.

Interesting fact:

In America* it is against the law to put the body directly in the ground, you need some kind of box. In Israel, the bodies are lowered directly into the grave, no box.

ETA Several commenters have pointed out that the USA is a big place. Rules change not only state to stare, but sometimes area to area within a state. Take a look, the variations are fascinating.