Sep. 24--Part of Bill Shaffer's job is mining the Bible for names -- Shem, Obadiah, Ezekiel, Asher and such.

What he's naming is caskets -- specifically, a line marketed to the Jewish community and constructed entirely of wood to comply with religious burial standards.

Among its peers, York Casket Co., where Shaffer works in marketing, is known for its all-wood product line. The plant in Manchester Township is the country's leading supplier of caskets made specifically with the Jewish community in mind, Shaffer said.

"We've been making 'Jewish' caskets since 1931," he said.

York Casket has changed ownership several times since and is now a division of Pittsburgh-based Matthews International.

More than 300 craftsmen and women at the Manchester Township plant help make the wooden caskets and their components. The 15,000 caskets produced annually for the Jewish community comprise 21 percent of the plant's business, Shaffer said.

The preference for simple wood caskets stems from Jewish tradition. The objective is returning the body to the earth quickly and naturally, so the entire casket should be biodegradable.

Caskets for Jewish burial contain no metal nails or hinges. Instead, craftsmen use wooden dowels and fasteners, and their staple guns fire U-shaped pieces of organic, silica polymer that will break down over time.

Traditionally, Jewish burial takes place 24 to 48 hours after death. Bodies are usually not embalmed, permitting quicker decomposition and the return "to dust" as stated in Genesis. Some coffins have holes drilled in the bottom to hasten the process.

The deceased are not dressed in their finest but wrapped in a plain, white burial shroud. The simplicity of the burial rites -- a plain, wooden casket and no dressing of the body for public viewing -- seeks to reaffirm that all are equal in death, whether rich or poor.

Next week, many Jews will wear white garments symbolic of the burial shroud in their observance of Yom Kippur, which begins at sundown Sunday.

Yom Kippur, the day of atonement, invites reflection on life and death. Jews believe it's the day God weighs your deeds, considers your repentance and determines your fate for the next year.

"The color white is a symbol of purity but also of equality. We all come (to the synagogue) dressed in the same color we're buried in," said Rabbi Jeffrey Astrachan of Temple Beth Israel in York Township.

"The concept is we approach God on this day of reckoning as we would death: As equals."

In accordance with Jewish law, the all-wood caskets are never manufactured on the Sabbath, said Richy Adlman, market manager for York Casket's all-wood products.

"I would say 98 percent of Jews use an all-wood constructed

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product," Adlman said.

York Casket distributes the caskets throughout the country, finding the biggest markets for Jewish funeral homes in New York, Florida, California and the Chicago area, Adlman said.

While simple pine caskets used to be preferred, funeral directors say Jewish families now expect a range of options.

"Times have changed," said Jason Goldstein, who is president of Kavod, a membership group of independent Jewish funeral homes.

"Unless you're Orthodox, nine times out of 10, they don't want the traditional pine," said Goldstein, whose family owns funeral homes in Philadelphia and Atlantic City, N.J.

York Casket has tried to respond to that demand, while keeping its products simply designed and manufactured in accordance with Jewish tradition, Adlman said.

"No ornate carving or corners, ostentatious beading or colors," he said. "We try to reach as many ranges of Jewish people as there are around the country."

York Casket offers dozens of models, including the plain pine box with no finish or interior lining. On the higher end, it distributes solid mahogany and cherry wood caskets with lots of shine. Retail prices for the all-wood caskets range from $500 to more than $10,000. The more expensive items reflect the craftmanship of hand carving or up to three weeks of staining, polishing and finishing, Aldman said.

Last year, York Casket started reaching out to the growing "green" burial market for those people interested in returning to the earth directly and with little impact on the environment. If "green" burials sound a lot like Jewish burials, you're right.

"Jews have been doing green burials by default for thousands of years. That's also true of Muslims," said Mark Harris, author of "Grave Matters: A Journey Through the Modern Funeral Industry to a Natural Way of Burial."

Green burials avoid embalming (and its toxic formaldehyde), metal caskets and burial vaults that are standard in modern funerals. (Unlike most U.S. cemeteries, "green" burial grounds don't require a vault or concrete box.)

However, a casket suitable for Jewish burial doesn't necessarily mean it's "green" or produced in an environmentally sustainable way, said Joe Sehee, founder of the Green Burial Council.

Sehee's nonprofit group encourages the funeral industry to abide by voluntary standards for green burial, using, for example, plant-derived or recycled materials for construction.

Caskets marketed to the Jewish community often use stains and finishes in the manufacturing process that contain toxic or hazardous chemicals, Sehee said. Coffin linings are sometimes cut from synthetic materials and attached with non-environmentally friendly glues.

"We're looking at toxicity, as well as biodegradability," Sehee said.

York Casket's green line is a slightly altered version of its all-wood constructed caskets for the Jewish community, Sehee said.

The line, Naturally Green, was certified last season as an approved provider and has received the same approval this year, Shaffer said.

Casket facts

--- About 1.7 million caskets are sold annually in the United States.

--- In 2007, 70 percent of deaths were casketed and had some form of ritual or ceremony. The growth of cremation has been steady, and more cremations than burials are expected in the U.S. by 2021.

--- About 70 percent of U.S. caskets are metal, and 29 percent are wood. The remainder are made of other materials, including plastic, fiberglass and biodegradable materials such as bamboo.

--- The demand for caskets to accommodate the obese (termed "oversized" caskets) and "green" caskets (made entirely of biodegradable materials without stains or toxic chemicals) is growing.

Source: Mark B. Allen, executive director of the Casket & Funeral Supply Association of America

Glossary

Chevra kadisha: The burial society that performs the ceremonial preparation of a body for burial

Kaddish: A prayer extolling God's greatness that's said in honor of the dead

Sheloshim: The secondary period of mourning lasting for 30 days. Mourners resume normal social and professional duties but are still restricted in certain ways, e.g., mourners should not cut their hair, attend social events or even religious celebrations.

Shemirah: This ritual act of watching or guarding the body is performed as a sign of respect to the deceased. In traditional practice, the deceased is not left alone from the time of death until burial.

Shiva: After the funeral, a seven-day mourning period for the deceased

Shomer: Under Jewish law, a body must not be left alone, so a watchman (shomer) sits with the deceased until burial. This person may be hired or the duty may be assigned to friends and congregants.

Shroud: Before burial, the deceased are usually wrapped in plain, white cloth called a shroud, or wrapping for the dead.

Tahara: The ritual cleansing, or purification, of a body before burial

Tachrichim: A simple, white shroud made of linen, cotton or muslin used to dress the dead

Tallit: A prayer shawl with four-corners that men are buried in; however, a corner is removed to indicate the tallit is no longer fit for religious use.

Unveiling: Customarily, a memorial stone is unveiled during a ceremony held after the kaddish period (11 months for parents and 30 days for other close relatives), but no later than one year after the death.

Yom Kippur

The Jewish Day of Atonement, which begins at sundown Sunday, is usually observed by spending the day in prayer and forgoing food, drink and work. It's the holiest day of the year for Jews and a time of cleansing the past year's sins.

Traditionally, Jews wear a white garment, known as a kittel, for services, symbolizing both purity (approaching God with a clean slate) and death (because Jews are buried in a white shroud).

On the Web

York Casket Company, www.matthewscasket.com

Kavod (the Independent Jewish Funeral Chapels), nijfd.org

Jewish Funeral Directors of America Inc., www.jfda.org

Casket and Funeral Supply Association of America, www.cfsaa.org

National Funeral Directors Association, www.nfda.org

Also of interest

--When York County undertakers served as woodworkers ... and vice versa. Read more at York Town Square.

To see more of the York Daily Record, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.ydr.com.

Copyright (c) 2009, York Daily Record, Pa.

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