Memorial Services
Megan led a beautiful service for my father...
I was so glad when I found out she would be leading the service.
-Geoffry, Madison, CT
I was so glad when I found out she would be leading the service.
-Geoffry, Madison, CT
A Service in Celebration of the Life of Elliot L G *
K'riah: Mourning Ritual
(Held in private with members of the immediate family)
Scripture tells us of many instances when people rent their clothes upon learning of a loved one’s death.
This ancient custom is symbolic of the tear that's in the mourner's heart.
The ribbon is worn on the left side of the person if they are mourning the death of a parent.
For all other relatives, the ribbon or clothing is cut on the person's right side.
This is to acknowledge that the relationship with a parent is different, and,
the difference is observed by performing the K'riah, on the side closest to the heart.
We stand to we face grief directly and to know that we will survive, even without our beloved departed.
We go forward with broken hearts, acknowledging grief and anger and devastation,
knowing we will never be the same and there are aspects of our mortal life that we may never understand.
We pray: Blessed are You, Adonai our God, Ruler of the Universe, judge of truth:
Baruch Atah Adonai Eloheinu Melech Ha-Olam, Dayan Ha-Emet.
(participants tear ribbons)
Amen
Memorial Service
Prelude
Call to Worship
We come together this morning to mourn the death and to remember, honor and celebrate the life of Elliot L_____ G_____:
Devoted husband, father and grandfather, much beloved brother, mentor, and friend.
Our hearts are with Elliot’s wife, Lisa, with his children Sara, Eli and George and their beloveds, and with Elliot’s grandchildren, Jimmy and Elsa. We are thinking of Elliot’s sister, Jane, and his brother, Gerald, and share in their grief.
Lisa, Sara, Eli, George, Jane and Gerald,
May this gathered community be of comfort to you in this time of sorrow.
Today is a time to remember Elliot and to mourn his passing.
Today also a time to celebrate Elliot’s life. It is an important time to be together.
On this day, tears will surely come.
Let us remember that tears shed when a loved one dies are precious and sacred, a sign that our hearts hold love
for someone who has lived and died, and whose love remains with us now and forevermore.
Grief is raw and it is fluid. Today is both a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to give thanks that Elliot G_____ walked this earth,
and with his life, his work in the world, and his compassionate heart, filled so many lives with love and with joy.
William Wordsworth wrote:
What though the radiance which was once so bright
Be now for ever taken from my sight,
Though nothing can bring back the hour
Of splendour in the grass, of glory in the flower;
We will grieve not, rather find
Strength in what remains behind…
Though Elliot has been taken from sight, as we remember him today and in the days and years to come,
May we find strength in the legacy he leaves behind: A legacy of love, of insight and innovation, of compassion, quiet care,
fine meals, and glorious flowers.
Today we lift up our hearts in thanksgiving for the gift of the life of Elliot L_____ G_____, a child of God.
Prayer of Remembrance: El Maleh Rahamim
Elliot and Lisa raised their children in a multi-faith home, celebrating both their Jewish and Christian heritage.
And today we draw from both as we honor Elliot.
We now offer the traditional Jewish prayer of remembrance, El Maleh Rahamim.
I will speak the prayer in English and then Lisa’s cousin, Yuri K_____ will recite it in Hebrew.
God filled with mercy,
Dwelling in the heavens’ heights,
Bring proper rest
Beneath the wings of your Shehinah,
Amid the ranks of the holy and the pure,
illuminating like the brilliance of the skies
the soul of our beloved and our blameless
who went to his eternal place of rest.
May you who are the source of mercy
Shelter him beneath your wings eternally,
And bind his soul among the living,
That he may rest in peace,
And let us say, Amen.
(Hebrew)
Lighting of the Memorial Candle
The Book of Proverbs tells us that “the soul of a person is the candle of God.” (Proverbs 20:27).
Like a human soul, flames must breathe, change, grow, strive against the darkness and, ultimately, fade away.
In our time of grief we light this memorial candle to remind us of the departed soul we mourn and of the precious beauty and fragility of life. May this light we now kindle be a sign of joy and sorrow, of memory and loss, of the passionate spirit of Elliot L_____ G_____.
[Elliot's children light candle]
For generations, the words of the Twenty-third psalm have been spoken by people in times of hardship and sorrow.
I invite you to join with me, if you wish, in saying the words of the Twenty-third psalm.
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures:
he leadeth me beside the still waters.
He restoreth my soul:
he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies:
thou anointest my head with oil;
my cup runneth over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life:
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.
In loving memory of Elliot and with thanks for his life, let us now sing together our hymn, Amazing Grace.
You’ll find words printed on the back of your order of service.
Please rise in body or spirit.
[Amazing Grace]
Words of Remembrance
It is a sacred time when we speak words in memory of one who has died.
It has been said: “What we keep alive in our memory is ours unchanged forever.”
Today we share words and stories and memories to celebrate the spirit of Elliot G_____:
I invite Lisa’s cousin Alena K_____ to offer words of remembrance.
[Cousin Alena]
I now invite us to join together in a time of reflection and remembrance.
As we remember Elliot in our hearts,
Anyone who feels moved to speak, is invited to come forward to the microphone
to share words, stories, and memories of Elliot that his spirit
may be with us this day and forever more.
[Sharing]
We hold in our hearts the memories that have been spoken here today, and all that remain unspoken.
Keep telling your stories of Elliot. They are what will keep him alive.
Eulogy
I met Elliot on the day he died.
I told him that I had come to be with him and with his sweet family.
And at the mention of the word family, he smiled.
I knew, in just those few short moments we spent together, how strong his love was for his family.
They gave him joy his entire life.
Elliot G_____ was a gardener and a cook.
He loved the natural world: loved being outside, working outdoors, coaxing life from the earth.
He loved being in the kitchen, using his chemical knowhow to create culinary masterpieces.
He called cooking “applied biochemistry” and many of you, I am sure, benefited from his desire to share delicious food
with those he cared about.
Many, many people benefited from Elliot’s application of his knowledge and curiosity to the way the intricacies of the human mind. He spent the early years of his career serving veterans at the VA hospital and became an expert on Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
His son George remembers a story his dad shared of meeting a man who told him that one of the medications Elliot had developed
had changed this man’s life. He was pleased, he told George, knowing that he was able to help people, to make their lives better.
Elliot’s storied career was marked by many accomplishments, but I can’t help but think that this might be one of the things of which he was most proud.
Elliot’s former students and colleagues remember him as a dedicated mentor, generous with his time and wildly intelligent.
He served at the National Institutes of Health and as a member of the board of the F_____’s A_____ Research Alliance, an organization dedicated to curing a rare and little-known disease that affects the heart and can be devastating, especially for children.
Paring compassion with curiosity, Elliot was committed to making life better for those whom others had forgotten.
When he became ill, Elliot continued to care for and support those he loved in his own understated way.
He took action on plans he and Lisa had been talking about for years and found new ways to support his children as they made their own way in the world.
And there was still some time for exploring a few more places together, precious time with family and his beloved grandchildren,
and joyful, glorious time in the garden. There is some comfort in this. We only wish that there had been more.
Elliot’s daughter Sara remembers him as a very loving father and grandfather, always engaged, generous with his attention, holding hands with his grown children just as he had when they were small. I believe the photo of Elliot you hold in your hands on the front of your program captures him the way Eli remembers him: as “quiet but engaged.”
Here he looks like he lived, contemplative and caring, filled with curiosity and ready to explore the world he loved so well.
Nothing can bring back the hour of splendor in the grass, of glory in the flower, the poet writes.
Nothing can bring back the life we have lost, but may there be strength in what remains behind:
memories of a life well lived, the legacy of a career dedicated to serving others and advancing knowledge, and most of all, love – the love Elliot G_____ shared with his beloveds and with the world lives on as we remember him.
I now invite you to join in our litany of remembrance.
Please recite the response “We will remember him” after each line.
In the rising of the sun and its going down
We will remember him
In the blowing of the wind and the chill of winter
We will remember him
In the opening of buds and in the rebirth of spring
We will remember him
In the blueness of the sky and in the warmth of summer
We will remember him
In the rustling of the leaves and the beauty of autumn
We will remember him
In the beginning of the year and when it ends
We will remember him
When we are weary and in need of strength
We will remember him
When we are lost and sick at heart
We will remember him
When we have joys we yearn to share
We will remember him
For as long as we live, he too shall live
For he is now a part of us.
We remember him.
Musical Mediation
Prayer
Spirit of Life, God of Abundant Love,
Give peace to our hearts this day
we offer prayers of thanksgiving
for the gift of the life of
Elliot L_____ G_____.
We give thanks
that Elliot walked among us,
and that his life touched the lives of so many.
We give thanks
for Elliot’s passion and compassion,
for his creativity and his caring spirit,
we give thanks for Elliot’s love of this world
And his spirit of adventure.
We give thanks for his curiosity and desire to explore the human mind,
To care for others, to learn with colleagues and friends.
We give thanks for quiet moments of connection,
For reading together, for shared laughter.
We pray today for all who knew and loved Elliot,
For his beloved wife, Lisa.
Bring her peace as you hold her in your eternal love.
We pray also for his children: Sara, Eli and George.
Give them strength and help them
to give support to one another in the years ahead.
Help us, O God, to remember Elliot’s
strength and courage and beauty
in life and in death.
Help us, in his memory, to see, ever more clearly,
the immeasurable goodness and preciousness of life.
Gracious Spirit,
we know that the light of Elliot’s spirit
will remain in the hearts of those who knew and loved him,
and as they live, so shall he.
For we know that love is stronger than death.
In the spirit of thanksgiving
for the life of this soul, your child,
Elliot L_____ G_____, we now pray.
AMEN.
I invite you now to join our voices, as you wish, in the prayer that Jesus taught his disciples:
The Lord's Prayer
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come, thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread
and forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil:
for thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory,
forever and ever. Amen.
Benediction
We close with words of benediction, words chosen by Elliot and his siblings to mark the occasion of their parents’ passings,
words of blessing for the departed and the living alike:
May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face;
The rains fall soft upon your fields, and until we meet again,
May God hold you in the hollow of His hand.
Extinguishing
We now extinguish this flame,
but not the light of hope,
the warmth of this gathered community,
or the spark of life that Elliot G_____ offered to the world.
We go forth from this place with these things in our hearts
And with the blessings Elliot bestowed upon us all.
Go in peace.
Postlude
Graveside Service
We gather to lay the body of Elliot L_____ G_____ in this sacred ground.
Here, under creation’s sky and graceful trees, his beloved soul shall rest in peace.
We dedicate this place to Elliot’s memory,
To the Eternal Spirit
and to the good earth.
We now give back our loved one – earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust.
May the sun which brings the day shine brightly here.
May the rain which loves all leaves fall gently here.
May the snow which blesses the earth lie purely here.
May Elliot’s spirit abide in the hearts of all who knew and loved him,
as the Eternal Spirit abides with him now and forevermore.
Ashes to ashes,
Dust to dust,
Memory to memory,
story to story,
blessing to blessing,
strength to strength,
gratitude to gratitude,
spirit to spirit,
love to love.
The wheel turns ever on,
and what came out of the earth
returns to it in peace.
For thousands of years, mourners have recited prayers at the gravesides of their beloveds.
Elliot’s family will now recite the traditional mourner’s Kaddish. Unlike most Jewish prayers, this prayer is not in Hebrew.
It is in Aramaic. In ancient times, Aramaic was the language of the people. Hebrew was spoken only in religious rituals
and only understood by priests. This prayer, the prayer of those who mourn, was spoken in what was then the universal language,
meant to be understood by all as grief is common to all, and understood by all.
If it is your custom to say Kaddish, please do.
[Kaddish]
Elliot, We bid you farewell.
We wish for you peace.
We offer our deep and abiding gratitude for your life and for your love.
Amen and blessed be.
[Casket is Lowered]
At this time, in accordance with Jewish tradition,
the family will place earth into the grave.
Those who wish to do so, are invited to join them.
[Dirt placed in the grave]
* Names changed for privacy protection.
(Held in private with members of the immediate family)
Scripture tells us of many instances when people rent their clothes upon learning of a loved one’s death.
This ancient custom is symbolic of the tear that's in the mourner's heart.
The ribbon is worn on the left side of the person if they are mourning the death of a parent.
For all other relatives, the ribbon or clothing is cut on the person's right side.
This is to acknowledge that the relationship with a parent is different, and,
the difference is observed by performing the K'riah, on the side closest to the heart.
We stand to we face grief directly and to know that we will survive, even without our beloved departed.
We go forward with broken hearts, acknowledging grief and anger and devastation,
knowing we will never be the same and there are aspects of our mortal life that we may never understand.
We pray: Blessed are You, Adonai our God, Ruler of the Universe, judge of truth:
Baruch Atah Adonai Eloheinu Melech Ha-Olam, Dayan Ha-Emet.
(participants tear ribbons)
Amen
Memorial Service
Prelude
Call to Worship
We come together this morning to mourn the death and to remember, honor and celebrate the life of Elliot L_____ G_____:
Devoted husband, father and grandfather, much beloved brother, mentor, and friend.
Our hearts are with Elliot’s wife, Lisa, with his children Sara, Eli and George and their beloveds, and with Elliot’s grandchildren, Jimmy and Elsa. We are thinking of Elliot’s sister, Jane, and his brother, Gerald, and share in their grief.
Lisa, Sara, Eli, George, Jane and Gerald,
May this gathered community be of comfort to you in this time of sorrow.
Today is a time to remember Elliot and to mourn his passing.
Today also a time to celebrate Elliot’s life. It is an important time to be together.
On this day, tears will surely come.
Let us remember that tears shed when a loved one dies are precious and sacred, a sign that our hearts hold love
for someone who has lived and died, and whose love remains with us now and forevermore.
Grief is raw and it is fluid. Today is both a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to give thanks that Elliot G_____ walked this earth,
and with his life, his work in the world, and his compassionate heart, filled so many lives with love and with joy.
William Wordsworth wrote:
What though the radiance which was once so bright
Be now for ever taken from my sight,
Though nothing can bring back the hour
Of splendour in the grass, of glory in the flower;
We will grieve not, rather find
Strength in what remains behind…
Though Elliot has been taken from sight, as we remember him today and in the days and years to come,
May we find strength in the legacy he leaves behind: A legacy of love, of insight and innovation, of compassion, quiet care,
fine meals, and glorious flowers.
Today we lift up our hearts in thanksgiving for the gift of the life of Elliot L_____ G_____, a child of God.
Prayer of Remembrance: El Maleh Rahamim
Elliot and Lisa raised their children in a multi-faith home, celebrating both their Jewish and Christian heritage.
And today we draw from both as we honor Elliot.
We now offer the traditional Jewish prayer of remembrance, El Maleh Rahamim.
I will speak the prayer in English and then Lisa’s cousin, Yuri K_____ will recite it in Hebrew.
God filled with mercy,
Dwelling in the heavens’ heights,
Bring proper rest
Beneath the wings of your Shehinah,
Amid the ranks of the holy and the pure,
illuminating like the brilliance of the skies
the soul of our beloved and our blameless
who went to his eternal place of rest.
May you who are the source of mercy
Shelter him beneath your wings eternally,
And bind his soul among the living,
That he may rest in peace,
And let us say, Amen.
(Hebrew)
Lighting of the Memorial Candle
The Book of Proverbs tells us that “the soul of a person is the candle of God.” (Proverbs 20:27).
Like a human soul, flames must breathe, change, grow, strive against the darkness and, ultimately, fade away.
In our time of grief we light this memorial candle to remind us of the departed soul we mourn and of the precious beauty and fragility of life. May this light we now kindle be a sign of joy and sorrow, of memory and loss, of the passionate spirit of Elliot L_____ G_____.
[Elliot's children light candle]
For generations, the words of the Twenty-third psalm have been spoken by people in times of hardship and sorrow.
I invite you to join with me, if you wish, in saying the words of the Twenty-third psalm.
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures:
he leadeth me beside the still waters.
He restoreth my soul:
he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies:
thou anointest my head with oil;
my cup runneth over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life:
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.
In loving memory of Elliot and with thanks for his life, let us now sing together our hymn, Amazing Grace.
You’ll find words printed on the back of your order of service.
Please rise in body or spirit.
[Amazing Grace]
Words of Remembrance
It is a sacred time when we speak words in memory of one who has died.
It has been said: “What we keep alive in our memory is ours unchanged forever.”
Today we share words and stories and memories to celebrate the spirit of Elliot G_____:
I invite Lisa’s cousin Alena K_____ to offer words of remembrance.
[Cousin Alena]
I now invite us to join together in a time of reflection and remembrance.
As we remember Elliot in our hearts,
Anyone who feels moved to speak, is invited to come forward to the microphone
to share words, stories, and memories of Elliot that his spirit
may be with us this day and forever more.
[Sharing]
We hold in our hearts the memories that have been spoken here today, and all that remain unspoken.
Keep telling your stories of Elliot. They are what will keep him alive.
Eulogy
I met Elliot on the day he died.
I told him that I had come to be with him and with his sweet family.
And at the mention of the word family, he smiled.
I knew, in just those few short moments we spent together, how strong his love was for his family.
They gave him joy his entire life.
Elliot G_____ was a gardener and a cook.
He loved the natural world: loved being outside, working outdoors, coaxing life from the earth.
He loved being in the kitchen, using his chemical knowhow to create culinary masterpieces.
He called cooking “applied biochemistry” and many of you, I am sure, benefited from his desire to share delicious food
with those he cared about.
Many, many people benefited from Elliot’s application of his knowledge and curiosity to the way the intricacies of the human mind. He spent the early years of his career serving veterans at the VA hospital and became an expert on Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
His son George remembers a story his dad shared of meeting a man who told him that one of the medications Elliot had developed
had changed this man’s life. He was pleased, he told George, knowing that he was able to help people, to make their lives better.
Elliot’s storied career was marked by many accomplishments, but I can’t help but think that this might be one of the things of which he was most proud.
Elliot’s former students and colleagues remember him as a dedicated mentor, generous with his time and wildly intelligent.
He served at the National Institutes of Health and as a member of the board of the F_____’s A_____ Research Alliance, an organization dedicated to curing a rare and little-known disease that affects the heart and can be devastating, especially for children.
Paring compassion with curiosity, Elliot was committed to making life better for those whom others had forgotten.
When he became ill, Elliot continued to care for and support those he loved in his own understated way.
He took action on plans he and Lisa had been talking about for years and found new ways to support his children as they made their own way in the world.
And there was still some time for exploring a few more places together, precious time with family and his beloved grandchildren,
and joyful, glorious time in the garden. There is some comfort in this. We only wish that there had been more.
Elliot’s daughter Sara remembers him as a very loving father and grandfather, always engaged, generous with his attention, holding hands with his grown children just as he had when they were small. I believe the photo of Elliot you hold in your hands on the front of your program captures him the way Eli remembers him: as “quiet but engaged.”
Here he looks like he lived, contemplative and caring, filled with curiosity and ready to explore the world he loved so well.
Nothing can bring back the hour of splendor in the grass, of glory in the flower, the poet writes.
Nothing can bring back the life we have lost, but may there be strength in what remains behind:
memories of a life well lived, the legacy of a career dedicated to serving others and advancing knowledge, and most of all, love – the love Elliot G_____ shared with his beloveds and with the world lives on as we remember him.
I now invite you to join in our litany of remembrance.
Please recite the response “We will remember him” after each line.
In the rising of the sun and its going down
We will remember him
In the blowing of the wind and the chill of winter
We will remember him
In the opening of buds and in the rebirth of spring
We will remember him
In the blueness of the sky and in the warmth of summer
We will remember him
In the rustling of the leaves and the beauty of autumn
We will remember him
In the beginning of the year and when it ends
We will remember him
When we are weary and in need of strength
We will remember him
When we are lost and sick at heart
We will remember him
When we have joys we yearn to share
We will remember him
For as long as we live, he too shall live
For he is now a part of us.
We remember him.
Musical Mediation
Prayer
Spirit of Life, God of Abundant Love,
Give peace to our hearts this day
we offer prayers of thanksgiving
for the gift of the life of
Elliot L_____ G_____.
We give thanks
that Elliot walked among us,
and that his life touched the lives of so many.
We give thanks
for Elliot’s passion and compassion,
for his creativity and his caring spirit,
we give thanks for Elliot’s love of this world
And his spirit of adventure.
We give thanks for his curiosity and desire to explore the human mind,
To care for others, to learn with colleagues and friends.
We give thanks for quiet moments of connection,
For reading together, for shared laughter.
We pray today for all who knew and loved Elliot,
For his beloved wife, Lisa.
Bring her peace as you hold her in your eternal love.
We pray also for his children: Sara, Eli and George.
Give them strength and help them
to give support to one another in the years ahead.
Help us, O God, to remember Elliot’s
strength and courage and beauty
in life and in death.
Help us, in his memory, to see, ever more clearly,
the immeasurable goodness and preciousness of life.
Gracious Spirit,
we know that the light of Elliot’s spirit
will remain in the hearts of those who knew and loved him,
and as they live, so shall he.
For we know that love is stronger than death.
In the spirit of thanksgiving
for the life of this soul, your child,
Elliot L_____ G_____, we now pray.
AMEN.
I invite you now to join our voices, as you wish, in the prayer that Jesus taught his disciples:
The Lord's Prayer
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come, thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread
and forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil:
for thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory,
forever and ever. Amen.
Benediction
We close with words of benediction, words chosen by Elliot and his siblings to mark the occasion of their parents’ passings,
words of blessing for the departed and the living alike:
May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face;
The rains fall soft upon your fields, and until we meet again,
May God hold you in the hollow of His hand.
Extinguishing
We now extinguish this flame,
but not the light of hope,
the warmth of this gathered community,
or the spark of life that Elliot G_____ offered to the world.
We go forth from this place with these things in our hearts
And with the blessings Elliot bestowed upon us all.
Go in peace.
Postlude
Graveside Service
We gather to lay the body of Elliot L_____ G_____ in this sacred ground.
Here, under creation’s sky and graceful trees, his beloved soul shall rest in peace.
We dedicate this place to Elliot’s memory,
To the Eternal Spirit
and to the good earth.
We now give back our loved one – earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust.
May the sun which brings the day shine brightly here.
May the rain which loves all leaves fall gently here.
May the snow which blesses the earth lie purely here.
May Elliot’s spirit abide in the hearts of all who knew and loved him,
as the Eternal Spirit abides with him now and forevermore.
Ashes to ashes,
Dust to dust,
Memory to memory,
story to story,
blessing to blessing,
strength to strength,
gratitude to gratitude,
spirit to spirit,
love to love.
The wheel turns ever on,
and what came out of the earth
returns to it in peace.
For thousands of years, mourners have recited prayers at the gravesides of their beloveds.
Elliot’s family will now recite the traditional mourner’s Kaddish. Unlike most Jewish prayers, this prayer is not in Hebrew.
It is in Aramaic. In ancient times, Aramaic was the language of the people. Hebrew was spoken only in religious rituals
and only understood by priests. This prayer, the prayer of those who mourn, was spoken in what was then the universal language,
meant to be understood by all as grief is common to all, and understood by all.
If it is your custom to say Kaddish, please do.
[Kaddish]
Elliot, We bid you farewell.
We wish for you peace.
We offer our deep and abiding gratitude for your life and for your love.
Amen and blessed be.
[Casket is Lowered]
At this time, in accordance with Jewish tradition,
the family will place earth into the grave.
Those who wish to do so, are invited to join them.
[Dirt placed in the grave]
* Names changed for privacy protection.