Jewish cemeteries

" Judaism has always held on to the memory of those who have passed away, and the Jewish grave is considered involatile. Because of this it is forbidden to destroy it - it is to be conserved forever. Pompous grave-stones are frowned upon, since

according to Jewish thought all people are considered to be equal after death - rich or poor, well-known or anonymus. Because of this all Jewish bodies are to be buried in simple with clothes in a modest wooden coffin. Incineration is denigrated because of the holiness of the human body.. Man comes from earth and to the earth he shall return. The graves are placed in the direction of the Holy Land and the dead lie in the casket and are not, as sometimes assumed mistakenly, buried in a standing position".

(From the book "Where Zurich find it's Rest". The cemeteries of the City of Zurich by Norbert Loacker & Christoph Hänsli, as written by Harry Teplitz, former President of the Cemetery and Burial Commission of the ICZ and quoted with his permission.)