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Rabbi Regina Sandler-Phillips
May 27, 2014, 8:21:09 AM5/27/14
to Jewish Funerals
While I see merit in all of the variations of hevra kadisha policy on taharah prior to cremation, I think that we're hedging around a very big "elephant" in this E-room.
Taharah is not an end in itself. It is one transition in the ultimate service of k'vod ha-meit, which is an ongoing process. Our ancient rabbis developed the original biblical imperatives of protection against desecration (of both the body and the earth) into communal responsibility for *accompanying* our dead--which is why our Hebrew word for funeral is levayah / accompanying.
Only a small segment of this protective accompanying from death until burial is offered *inside* the taharah room. Whether or not our specific policies provide for taharah prior to cremation, I believe that we all need to evaluate the effectiveness of our efforts as sacred fellowships to foster k'vod ha-meit *beyond* the taharah room.
Dan Leger and Dan Levy rightly touch on education and counseling, and Ilene Rubenstein on sh'mirah. My impression is that few sacred fellowships besides ours (in Brooklyn, NY) are grassrooted in sh'mirah, which provides its own powerful experiential education and is accessible to many more community members than is taharah.
In my experience, sh'mirah is the real heart of levayah.
I've published two essays in Tablet Magazine for those who would like to explore this further. May we go from strength to strength.
With deep appreciation for all you do and many blessings of consolation for Memorial Day and the Festival of Revelation ahead,
Regina
Rabbi Regina Sandler-Phillips, MSW,
MPH
Director, WAYS OF PEACE Community Resources
Join us August 4th-10th for Three Legs or One Foot: Rebalancing Our Jewish Communities
"In
cities of diversity...we organize ourselves and our
money...
to
sustain the poor...and visit the sick...and bury the dead...and comfort the
bereaved...
for
these are ways of peace." (Jerusalem Talmud, Tractate
Gittin)
David Zinner
May 27, 2014, 9:50:13 AM5/27/14
to jewish-...@googlegroups.com
Ilene and Rabbi Regina have expanded our discussion in an important
direction.
The chevra kadisha as an institution changed Jewish society.
Sylvie Goldberg in her book "Crossing the Jabbok" on page 85 writes,
"...we can verify the rupture that took place in Jewish society with the
founding of a corporate institution meant to assume responsibility for
the final moments of life. It seems clear that in previous time the last
rites had been left to the individual initiatives of families as much as
to the goodwill of professional gravediggers. The transformation in the
social fabric of the community wrought by the hevra kadisha's erection
of a hierarchical structure would have many consequences...
Goldberg also restates (on page 80) the functions of the Prague chevra
kadisha that dates back to before 1689. "In addition to the primary
vocation of dealing with the dead, the members intend to create a
general charity fund...addressing the needs of the poor... And they have
three other aims as well..a permanent fund meant to insure the upkeep of
the Prague cemetery...." She later lists (page 97) "...general measures
concerning the sick, the dying, and the dead..."
We can conclude that the chevra kadisha took on more than the tahara,
even more than physically and spiritually accompanying the body.
Historically the chevra kadisha providing a continuum of care at the end
of life, from serious illness through death to mourning.
For synagogue based chevra kadisha groups, replicating these traditions
of care may be a challenge. But many synagogues today have met that
challenge providing bikkur cholim, tahara, shmira, meals of comfort, and
shiva services often under the chevra kadisha umbrella.
For community based chevra kadisha groups, these challenges can be
daunting. Maybe this should lead us to encourage a blended model of
chevra kadisha, where every synagogue has a chevra, but every community
also has a city-wide chevra to care for those who are unaffiliated with
a synagogue.
The Gamliel Institute has two upcoming courses that may interest readers
of this discussion. Beginning July 8, 2014 our online course called
Chevra Kadisha: Nechama will explore the importance and strategies of
providing comfort within the context of the chevra kadisha. And October
7, 2014 is the first class of Chevra Kadisha: Origins and Evolution.
These are both 12 week online courses. Sign up at
http://www.jewish-funerals.org/gamreg. Contact me for more information.
David Zinner, Executive Director
Gamliel Institute
in...@jewish-funerals.org
410-733-3700
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direction.
The chevra kadisha as an institution changed Jewish society.
Sylvie Goldberg in her book "Crossing the Jabbok" on page 85 writes,
"...we can verify the rupture that took place in Jewish society with the
founding of a corporate institution meant to assume responsibility for
the final moments of life. It seems clear that in previous time the last
rites had been left to the individual initiatives of families as much as
to the goodwill of professional gravediggers. The transformation in the
social fabric of the community wrought by the hevra kadisha's erection
of a hierarchical structure would have many consequences...
Goldberg also restates (on page 80) the functions of the Prague chevra
kadisha that dates back to before 1689. "In addition to the primary
vocation of dealing with the dead, the members intend to create a
general charity fund...addressing the needs of the poor... And they have
three other aims as well..a permanent fund meant to insure the upkeep of
the Prague cemetery...." She later lists (page 97) "...general measures
concerning the sick, the dying, and the dead..."
We can conclude that the chevra kadisha took on more than the tahara,
even more than physically and spiritually accompanying the body.
Historically the chevra kadisha providing a continuum of care at the end
of life, from serious illness through death to mourning.
For synagogue based chevra kadisha groups, replicating these traditions
of care may be a challenge. But many synagogues today have met that
challenge providing bikkur cholim, tahara, shmira, meals of comfort, and
shiva services often under the chevra kadisha umbrella.
For community based chevra kadisha groups, these challenges can be
daunting. Maybe this should lead us to encourage a blended model of
chevra kadisha, where every synagogue has a chevra, but every community
also has a city-wide chevra to care for those who are unaffiliated with
a synagogue.
The Gamliel Institute has two upcoming courses that may interest readers
of this discussion. Beginning July 8, 2014 our online course called
Chevra Kadisha: Nechama will explore the importance and strategies of
providing comfort within the context of the chevra kadisha. And October
7, 2014 is the first class of Chevra Kadisha: Origins and Evolution.
These are both 12 week online courses. Sign up at
http://www.jewish-funerals.org/gamreg. Contact me for more information.
David Zinner, Executive Director
Gamliel Institute
in...@jewish-funerals.org
410-733-3700
---
This email is free from viruses and malware because avast! Antivirus protection is active.
http://www.avast.com
Dan Fendel
May 30, 2014, 12:59:10 AM5/30/14
to jewish-...@googlegroups.com
I want to put in a plug for the Gamliel Institute, which David Zinner mentioned (see below) as an addendum to the discussion that Jean Berman started on this list last week, on cremation and tahara.
Jean made her original post based on a suggestion during the current Gamliel Institute course - Chevra Kadisha: Education, Organizing, and Training - in which students are doing a variety of projects to contribute to the strength of the Chevra Kadisha movement. Some projects involve helping to create new CK groups; others involve research (e.g., on genizah, on tachrichim); others involve expanding the scope of existing CK institutions; etc.
My personal experience with the Nechama course (coming up in July) reconnected me with grief support work I did in the 80’s and 90’s, and led me to become a Spiritual Care Volunteer at a local hospital, as well as to begin work toward creating a Nechama branch within my synagogue’s Caring Community/CK structure.
These are just some of the immediate benefits of the Gamliel program, which should be of interest to everyone on this list. If you haven’t participated, I urge you to check it out.
Dan Fendel
On May 27, 2014, at 6:50 AM, David Zinner <david...@comcast.net> wrote:
<snip>
Jean made her original post based on a suggestion during the current Gamliel Institute course - Chevra Kadisha: Education, Organizing, and Training - in which students are doing a variety of projects to contribute to the strength of the Chevra Kadisha movement. Some projects involve helping to create new CK groups; others involve research (e.g., on genizah, on tachrichim); others involve expanding the scope of existing CK institutions; etc.
My personal experience with the Nechama course (coming up in July) reconnected me with grief support work I did in the 80’s and 90’s, and led me to become a Spiritual Care Volunteer at a local hospital, as well as to begin work toward creating a Nechama branch within my synagogue’s Caring Community/CK structure.
These are just some of the immediate benefits of the Gamliel program, which should be of interest to everyone on this list. If you haven’t participated, I urge you to check it out.
Dan Fendel
On May 27, 2014, at 6:50 AM, David Zinner <david...@comcast.net> wrote:
<snip>
Rabbi Regina Sandler-Phillips
May 30, 2014, 1:01:26 AM5/30/14
to Jewish Funerals
Thank you, David--
I appreciate Sylvie-Anne Goldberg's work, and enjoyed meeting her at the 2005 conference. That said, I've found her historical conclusions most reliable for the period that is the focus of her study (the 16th through the 19th centuries CE). I'm not convinced that "we can verify the rupture" at the time she suggests, and her reference to "professional gravediggers" does not seem to fit the the previous historical periods.
On page 84, Goldberg refers to the hevra kadisha in terms of "its biblical meaning of gemilut hasadim and hesed shel emet." These are actually rabbinic concepts, not biblical, as per her citation of Jacob Rader Marcus on the previous page.
There are various ways to interpret the early rabbinic texts, which date the specialized "havurta" back at least to the 4th century CE. For example, Rashi's decentralized interpretation of the Daru-Mata story in BT Moed Katan 27b is not obvious from the Talmudic text itself.
In any case, our rabbinic tradition has always been one of selective interpretation, and we in turn select our best understandings of that tradition to evolve our sacred fellowships forward.
I would be happy to consult with any hevra kadisha about practical, manageable ways to expand its scope by providing sh'mirah--which (for most Jews) is a much less daunting form of sacred fellowship service. It requires no specialized training or materials, is open and accessible to any Jew who has come of ritual age, and can be organized even in the absence of taharah.
For those vigil-keepers who realize on the basis of their experience that they are ready to take their commitment to the next level, sh'mirah also can and does provide a direct recruitment path to the taharah team.
May we go from strength to strength.
With many blessings for the upcoming Festival of Revelation and beyond,
Regina
Rabbi Regina Sandler-Phillips, MSW,
MPH
Director, WAYS OF PEACE Community Resources
Join us June 3rd for Who's Robbing God? at Shavu'ot Across Brooklyn
Join us June 8th for And When I Die: The Musical!
Join us August 4th-10th for Three Legs or One Foot: Rebalancing Our Jewish Communities
"In
cities of diversity...we organize ourselves and our
money...
to
sustain the poor...and visit the sick...and bury the dead...and comfort the
bereaved...
for
these are ways of peace." (Jerusalem Talmud, Tractate
Gittin)
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