Abstract
Funerals can be delayed when the death falls on the Sabbath - a day of rest in the Jewish faith when no burials are performed - or on a Jewish holiday. The practice of burying Jews swiftly is so deeply ingrained, however, that in 1995 Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, who was far from Orthodox and whose funeral was attended by leaders who rushed in from around the world, had his funeral performed and was buried within just two days of his assassination. Far from preserving the body, Jews believe, following the book of Ecclesiastes in the Hebrew Bible, that "the dust returns to the earth as it was" -- the sooner the better.