A Non-Theistic Jewish Funeral

So I just conducted a funeral.  God wasn’t invited and nobody even noticed.

I’ve only been performing non-theistic services and life cycle celebrations for a little over a year now.  Funerals are the trickiest because while I only really do them for family or close friends, anyone can attend.  In this case the deceased was also an atheist, but I can’t say how many of the mourners were believers.  I assume there were at least some who have a vague theism.  Even though I said a non-theistic version of the Kaddish – praising peace rather than God – only one person commented on it afterward and not negatively.

What does this say about God’s importance at these events?  If nobody’s even asking about him at a funeral then how central can he be to these people’s lives?  Sometimes I think the Jewish community is so ready for something new and different that doesn’t make them check their brains at the door.

It went well.  The family was very comforted by the presence of family and friends.  They didn’t really seem to need a guest appearance by Yahweh.