Page "Ritual washing in Judaism" Paragraph 75

Between death and the traditional ceremony, the body is placed on the ground, and covered with a sheet, and at the start of the traditional ceremony, the body is lifted from the ground onto a special board or slab ( a tahara board ), so that it lies facing the door, with a white sheet underneath.

The clothes are then removed from the corpse ( if they were not been removed when the corpse was placed on the ground ), and at this point is recited by the enactors of the ritual, as it refers to the removal of filthy clothes.

Following this, the body is thoroughly rubbed with lukewarm water, with the mouth of the corpse covered so that water does not enter it ; the next part of the ritual is the pouring of water over the head, while is quoted, since it refers to the sprinkling of water to produce cleanness ; and then each limb is washed downwards, while and the following verses, which describe the beauty of elements of the body, are spoken.

Finally, nine measures of cold water are poured over the body while it is upright, which is the core element of the ceremony, and it is then dried ( according to some customs ), and enshrouded ; in ancient times the hair and nails were also cut, but by the 19th century the hair was merely combed, and the nails were just cleansed with a special pin, unless their length is excessive.

After the ceremony, the taharah board is washed and dried, but is kept facing the same way, as there is a superstition with the belief that turning it the other way will cause another person to die within 3 days.

Many communities have replaced the pouring of nine measures by immersion in a specially constructed mikveh.