Amy Winehouse Funeral Controversy
Posted on Jul 26, 2011 @ 05:10PM
By Amber Goodhand - Radar Staff Reporter
&
Alexis Tereszcuk - Radar Senior Reporter
Amy Winehouse was laid to rest on Tuesday in London with a traditional Jewish ceremony but it's become a controversial topic given the circumstances involved.
Winehouse, 27, was cremated before she was buried and was covered in tattoos - typically two major violations of Jewish law.
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According to Rabbi Naftali Silberberg, it is unequivocal that the dead must be buried in the earth.
"As a deterrent measure, cremated remains are not interred in a Jewish cemetery. Furthermore, we are told that many of the traditional laws of mourning are not observed after the passing of an individual whose body was cremated. However, is recited for such individuals, and it is certainly appropriate to give charity and do mitzvot in memory of their souls," the Rabbi writes of Chabad.org.
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Religious Jews do not traditionally believe in cremation because their faith tells them that they will be resurrected when the messiah comes, which would be impossible if they have no body.
The Jewish Community Center Chabad In Manhattan Beach, California explains why tattoos are forbidden in the religion.
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"A person is comprised of a body and soul which are intrinsically connected. Kabbalah teaches us that what happens to our body effects our soul as well. That is why we must be very careful to take care of our body because 'A small hole in the body creates a great hole in the soul,' When we change the look of our body synthetically by inserting a tattoo we are also affecting our souls.
"While Judaism forbids tattooing it does not place any stigma on someone who has a tattoo, they are no less responsible to fulfill Mitzvot than someone without a tattoo including the Mitzavah of not getting any more tattoos. Contrary to the popular belief, there is no prohibition for a Jew with a tattoo to be buried in a Jewish cemetery and having tattoos on one's body doesn't change the laws involving their Jewish burial in any way."
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Tattoos are thought to be a "marking the body" and those with tattoos are not to be buried in Jewish cemetery, although in recent years a line of more progressive-thinking Jews have accepted both tattoos and cremation.
It's unclear who made the decision to have Winehouse's remains cremated or if she had been actively practicing her Jewish faith.
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The Daily Juice
Change of subject away from her exposed nipple....doesn't Eva Mendez look like Amy Winehouse??? She should be the one to play her in a movie. There are even pics of Eva wearing a beehive / poof look. She's a shoo-in for the part!
Posted Wed, 07/27/2011 - 2:57am
#1 the nipple picture is disrespectful, #2 her family should have been allowed to grieve without all the media/camera people outside, and FINALLY #3 I am sure not all Jews follow the rules EXACTLY the same way a lot of Catholic/Christians do not.
Posted Wed, 07/27/2011 - 1:06am
Hey ROL. I mentioned these two issues yesterday and you DELETED my post!
Posted Wed, 07/27/2011 - 12:14am
Respect the dead...sure, but she is the one who dressed like that. What happened to respect thy self? Honestly, I didn't even notice it until I read it and looked again.
Posted Tue, 07/26/2011 - 11:38pm
If your rotted body that was buried in the earth can be resurrected, why can't your cremated remains?
Posted Tue, 07/26/2011 - 10:56pm
Rip Poor Amy. Poor Poor tortured soul. May God rest your soul.
Posted Tue, 07/26/2011 - 9:46pm
The most controversial thing in this article is the picture of her nipple showing shame on Radaronline for choosing such a pic.
Posted Tue, 07/26/2011 - 9:39pm
wrong picture to be up... cover the nip please!
Posted Tue, 07/26/2011 - 9:37pm
Good thing they lightened up! All the plastic surgeries.......talk about putting holes in ones' body!
Posted Tue, 07/26/2011 - 9:00pm
Yes, that's her nipple. After she had augmentation surgery she had trouble keeping her new puppies in their kennels. There were like 45 different times she was caught 'nip-slipping". The pics can all be seen at LxCURL.com/picgallery
Posted Tue, 07/26/2011 - 8:13pm