Amy Winehouse

Sorry this post is so late.  I don't often post about random popular culture, but here goes.  In the hours following the death of musician Amy Winehouse, the media frenzy went forward on two fronts.  The first question they examined was whether the singer had overdosed, and the second question they examined was  whether the singer's family's desire to have a Jewish funeral for their daughter was appropriate.

Amy Winehouse is the Jewish girl that gave Jewish girls the ability to not be so nice.  She was always open about her background and never apologetic that her life was not beholden to halachah.  Adherence to Jewish law is not the only factor that makes a Jew, and Winehouse's parents and family should have been free to bury her in a fashion they saw fit (assuming she had no documentation indicating otherwise) without question.  In Judaism, caring for the dead is considered the highest mitzvah because the deceased cannot bury themselves.  And whether the person in question followed the commandments is not at issue.  The burial does not become more or less kosher based on the actions of the deceased.

Not all Jews are observant, and not all who are not Orthodox lack all observance.  So someone who was not a nice Jewish girl can be buried as soon as possible according to Jewish custom without a contradiction.