A Houston company that owns 53 Jewish funeral homes completed its acquisition of Stewart Enterprises, the second-largest provider of funeral services in the United States — but agreed to sell two Maryland Jewish homes to settle possible anti-trust concerns.

Jewish community members had protested the acquisition last month at the offices of the Federal Trade Commission in Washington, fearful the price of Jewish funerals at the Stewart-owned Hines-Rinaldi Funeral Home in Silver Spring, Md., would rise in the wake of the acquisition. Under the terms of a contract with the Jewish Funeral Practices Committee of Greater Washington, Hines-Rinaldi allows for a Jewish funeral that costs approximately $4,000 less than the average funeral in the Washington area.

The Houston-based Service Corporation International will acquire Hines-Rinaldi under the deal. But the company agreed to sell off 91 properties, including two Jewish funeral homes in Maryland, to resolve antitrust concerns raised by the Jewish Funeral Practices Committee.

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

David Zinner, the committee’s vice president and executive director of Kavod v’Nichum, a group serving Jewish burial societies throughout North America, told JTA by e-mail he was pleased the FTC recognized “the SCI acquisition of Stewart would create too much concentration in the Jewish funeral market in the Washington, D.C. area.”

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

$36 $500

$120 $180 Other amount