Dear Friends,
Israel Man comments "So I ask you: Why shouldn't we leave it
to the individual to decide what will be done with his/her body? What right
have we as a society to invade individual privacy and dictate about a thing
that, in the long run, does not matter to us."
If the society to which we are committed is Jewish, then we indeed have not only a right, but also an obligation to educate fellow Jews in the laws and traditions which are the foundation of our people. It does matter to us, just as the actions of all Jews matter to all other Jews. If the person has asked for the Jewish way, it behooves our spiritual and legal leaders, the heads of Chevra Kadishas and learned others to show them that way.
Susan Schwirck
To: jewish-...@googlegroups.com
From: jewish-...@googlegroups.com
Subject: [jewish-funerals] Digest for jewish-...@googlegroups.com - 3 updates in 1 topic
Date: Tue, 17 Jun 2014 10:58:53 +0000
Group: http://groups.google.com/group/jewish-funerals/topics
On Jun 6, 2014, at 4:00 AM, _jewish-funerals@googlegroups.com_
(mailto:jewish-...@googlegroups.com) wrote:
_Today's topic summary_ ()
Group: http://groups.google.com/group/jewish-funerals/topics
* _Digest for jewish-...@googlegroups.com - 2 updates in 1
topic_
(https://us-mg5.mail.yahoo.com/neo/launch?.rand=fnf8bd6n0jsos#group_thread_0) [1 Update]
* _About the question of Taharah in the face of Cremation_
(https://us-mg5.mail.yahoo.com/neo/launch?.rand=fnf8bd6n0jsos#group_thread_1) [1
Update]
() _Digest for jewish-...@googlegroups.com - 2 updates in 1 topic_
(http://groups.google.com/group/jewish-funerals/t/f53b8389b6ddb647)
() _About the question of Taharah in the face of Cremation_
(http://groups.google.com/group/jewish-funerals/t/cb6b99c622e771d8)
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On Jun 6, 2014, at 4:00 AM, _jewish-funerals@googlegroups.com_
(mailto:jewish-...@googlegroups.com) wrote:
_Today's topic summary_ ()
Group: http://groups.google.com/group/jewish-funerals/topics
* _Digest for jewish-...@googlegroups.com - 2 updates in 1
topic_
(https://us-mg5.mail.yahoo.com/neo/launch?.rand=fnf8bd6n0jsos#group_thread_0) [1 Update]
* _About the question of Taharah in the face of Cremation_
(https://us-mg5.mail.yahoo.com/neo/launch?.rand=fnf8bd6n0jsos#group_thread_1) [1
Update]
() _Digest for jewish-...@googlegroups.com - 2 updates in 1 topic_
(http://groups.google.com/group/jewish-funerals/t/f53b8389b6ddb647)
() _About the question of Taharah in the face of Cremation_
(http://groups.google.com/group/jewish-funerals/t/cb6b99c622e771d8)
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To me, if we are acting as the hands of Gd in the Taharah room, we are acting as his/her agent outside of it in our Chevra Kadisha roll. I've seen what other religions and cultures do; some are very similar to ours while others might even seem barbaric. If you must ask "who are we to ______?". then to me the simple answer is that we are Jews and, as such, we have an obligation to follow our ways, our rituals, our teachings. It's one thing to know about, understand and acknowledge other ways but, IMHO, it doesn't mean we emulate them, adopt them, incorporate them and tacitly engage in them.
On Tuesday, June 17, 2014 12:51:17 PM UTC-7, celt...@hotmail.com wrote:
Dear Friends,
Israel Man comments "So I ask you: Why shouldn't we leave it
to the individual to decide what will be done with his/her body? What right
have we as a society to invade individual privacy and dictate about a thing
that, in the long run, does not matter to us."
If the society to which we are committed is Jewish, then we indeed have not only a right, but also an obligation to educate fellow Jews in the laws and traditions which are the foundation of our people. It does matter to us, just as the actions of all Jews matter to all other Jews. If the person has asked for the Jewish way, it behooves our spiritual and legal leaders, the heads of Chevra Kadishas and learned others to show them that way.
Susan Schwirck
To: jewish-...@googlegroups. com
From: jewish-...@googlegroups. com
Subject: [jewish-funerals] Digest for jewish-...@googlegroups. com - 3 updates in 1 topic
--
I was interested to read Rich Aptaker’s recent reply. I was reminded of a conversation I recently had with one of the five gentile licensed funeral directors at our city’s only Jewish family owned funeral home. He informed me that the met for whom we were about to perform tahara was to be buried in a metal casket (in one of our Jewish cemeteries) and he wanted to know if we would be completing the ritual by placing him in this casket. I told him that we would prefer that he was not buried in such a casket, but that we would place him within it and close it as we did for others. I then asked him why this funeral home offers such items. He was extremely perplexed by my question. I didn’t feel that he was simply annoyed with me for asking (he’s a really sweet man), but that he simply couldn’t understand why I would ask, since, he indicated, that the funeral home’s responsibility is to offer choice to its customers.
There are many funeral homes in our city, and any manner of services can be purchased from them. To my mind, however, a mortuary which purports to be a “Jewish” funeral home, has no business offering services and merchandise which clearly exist in the consumer culture outside the Jewish world. Simple Jewish burial plans such as the ones I am aware of in certain congregations clearly state what will take place. One agrees to these limitations and the traditional simplicity inherent in them. I find it very problematic when a funeral home refers to itself as “Jewish”, yet adopts the same consumer driven options available at “non-Jewish” establishments. The paradox of choice rears its confusing head in so many areas of life; it seems comforting to me to have some opportunity where those choices cease to treat us as consumers of services with varieties of choice and limit us to simplicity, tradition, and its ensuing economies.
Dan Leger