Rabbi sues state over embalming regulations

HARRISBURG - An Orthodox rabbi from Western Pennsylvania filed a federal lawsuit Monday seeking to prevent the state's Board of Funeral Directors from requiring licensed funeral directors to participate in funerals and burials that do not involve embalming.

Rabbi Daniel Wasserman sued board members and other state officials over what he claimed is a recent enforcement effort that infringes on religious freedoms and the right to equal protection under the law.

The 41-page complaint said Wasserman "seeks only the right to continue doing what he and his colleagues and predecessors have done for their religion's deceased persons, their families and mourners, and their communities - here and throughout the world - for centuries."

With the change, Wasserman could not become a licensed funeral director, the complaint said, because he would need to be trained in embalming, which his beliefs prohibit.

A spokesman for the Department of State, of which the funeral agency is a part, declined to comment on the lawsuit. Most recently, the bureau told Wasserman in May that its investigation had been deferred and the complaint closed, but the matter could be reopened.

Wasserman said the law had been enforced selectively against Jews while Amish funeral practices were not subject to the same regulations.

The lawsuit said the state agency's actions have had a "chilling effect" on families within Pittsburgh's Orthodox community regarding burial rites and practices, and Wasserman said he believed the agency was motivated by a desire to protect the income of its licensed funeral directors.