Pennsylvania rabbi sues for religious burial rights

A Pittsburgh rabbi is suing the state of Pennsylvania to protect traditional Orthodox Jewish burials, lawyers say. Rabbi Daniel Wasserman filed suit in federal court in Scranton Monday, to prevent the state Board of Funeral Directors, as well as other officials, from requiring licensed funeral directors to conduct or supervise Jewish funerals. Wasserman, 47, says he has been threatened with civil and criminal prosecution for conducting religious funerals instead of using commercial funeral directors. The Jewish Chronicle reported the only other group to do so within the state is the Amish. The suit alleges Wasserman was the subject of two state investigations in 2009 and 2011. "Our community still practices the way we have for 2,000 years," Wasserman said. "The state has no right to tell us how to practice." The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported Wasserman has the support of Imam AbduSemih Tadese of the Islamic Center of Pittsburgh. "There is a need for clarification when it comes to what clergy can do when it comes to their religious rights," Tadese said. "That's why the rabbi is doing a service to the entire religious community in the commonwealth."