Transcription:
We’re supposed to have respect for all people at all times, not just in death. We’re supposed to extend the same respect in life that we would expect to be extended after the individual has passed away. So it’s not that the individual is just a container. The body is just a container, as we spoke of earlier. The body itself retains its holiness and needs to be treated with a measure of respect and honour. During the tahara, the washing of the remains prior to being placed in the casket and then tahara, there’s a part of the ritual practice where the team that’s doing the washing and the dressing and the preparing of the individual for internment asks the deceased for forgiveness. If they’ve mishandled the deceased inappropriately at any time in that process, that’s the extent to which Judaism mandates the level of respect and honour that we are to show, even an individual who’s passed away. How much more so are we to show respect and honour to people who are alive?