Education prior to cremation

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Rabbi Regina Sandler-Phillips

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May 25, 2014, 7:20:59 AM5/25/14

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Dear Jean and All,

I don't believe that a hevra kadisha should deny taharah when requested prior to cremation. I do believe that, as a matter of policy, our sacred fellowships should encourage pro-active community education and dialogue, to reach through the silence that obscures what cremation actually involves.

Unfortunately, our conventional Jewish anti-cremation discourse usually misses two core Jewish concerns: (a) increased environmental devastation and (b) increased vulnerability to criminal desecration (in the absence of sh'mirah and full levayah).

U.S. cremation rates currently represent more than 2 million hours of fossil fuels burned at 4-digit temperatures every year. This energy cost does not include the additional processing of bone fragments after each burning, and the EPA has repeatedly declined to regulate the range of crematory emissions.

Every few years, desecration scandals involving hundreds of bodies (and sometimes more than a thousand) are quickly forgotten after they fade from the media headlines.

If anyone is interested in exploring these issues further, please visit Cremation Dialogues on my website. I am also offering a non-sectarian program in Brooklyn, NY on June 8th that will bring these issues to more general attention in a relaxed environment: And When I Die: The Musical!

May we go from strength to strength.

With many blessings for the Season of Revelation and beyond,

Regina

Rabbi Regina Sandler-Phillips, MSW, MPH

Director, WAYS OF PEACE Community Resources

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Rabbi Regina Sandler-Phillips

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Jun 18, 2014, 2:47:29 PM6/18/14

to Jewish Funerals

Dear All,

A few weeks ago, I noted that our discussions of cremation almost never address the increased vulnerability to criminal desecration (in the absence of sh'mirah and full levayah)--and that every few years, scandals involving hundreds of bodies (and sometimes more than a thousand) are quickly forgotten after they fade from the media headlines.

The latest string of revelations is coming out of the UK, as below:

Ashes of 1,000 babies not returned to their parents

'Joint cremation' claim to be probed

Baby ashes report calls for new laws

Cautionary tales focusing on the *environmental* damage of cremation have also come out of UK media reports in recent years. As our U.S. cremation rate of more than 40% edges toward the UK rate of more than 70%, I encourage sacred fellowships to join WAYS OF PEACE in our efforts to address the core Jewish issues of protecting the earth as well as the bodies of the dead.