Piazzale Donatello - English Cemetery

I have recently read the forward reading for the service learning path to Hope.  I learned a lot about the Jewish tradition for funeral accommodations and observances for the dead.  Walking through this cemetery showed a complete contrast to those ideas.  In traditional Jewish practice the dead are all treated equally and during the services for their families and friends after their passing the customs and conduct toward their burial services maintain an equality for the people.  Their social status, economic status, military rank, intellectual accomplishments, etc. are not acknowledged with their burial.  Walking through this cemetery there were clear differences in the decoration and scale of the tomb stones used to honor the dead.  The timing worked out having this reading stand out in the back of my mind as I was walking through the cemetery placed on top of a hill that presently holds the center of a traffic circle; I focused a lot on the differences in ornamentation that these burials presented.  It was interesting to look at the gardening and sculpture surrounding a grave and imagine who the person was, who was last to visit their burial site, and what their legacy is.  This offers something that the Jewish tradition doesn’t for the people that succeed the dead, however, the idea of abandoning all status when moving into the afterlife and holding power of equality throughout eternity is very intriguing.  This made me think about what the purpose for all of these burial practices are - are they for the living or the dead?  The traditions don’t carry like those of the ancient Egyptians where their burial sites were designed to prepare them for the afterlife.  Having an intricately decorated tombstone is not going to help in the afterlife but is left for the living to admire and have as a legacy.