Sephardi Funeral in Jerusalem

On Friday, yesterday, we attended the funeral of Yehuda's dear friend's wife who had just died suddenly Wednesday night. I was astonished at the informality of dress, the shoddy appearance of the funeral director/rabbi and his perfunctory manner, and especially by the absence of a coffin. The woman's body had been wrapped in white, mummy fashion, and laid in a long sling or stretcher, and then covered by a blue velvet cloth. The funeral ceremony took about 15 minutes, and then we drove about a mile or two to the mausoleum. An assistant stood in a deep hole, up to his chest, and after maybe 3 minutes of rapid prayers including the kaddish, the pall bearers, including the woman's son, tipped the stretcher into the grave. The assistant funneled the feet and then the whole body into the hole, quickly arranged six concrete tablets on top of it, climbed out and shoveled the stony earth into the hole. Soon mourners took over from him, filling in the hole. A no nonsense burrial.