Charging for Tahara
lchaim
and going over the guidelines for Performing Tahara. He gave us a
guide which had been previously written for the Chevra Kadisha of
Northern New Mexico.
During the course of the discussion the question of reimbursement to
the synagogue came up. At one time I believe the synagogue asked for
a donation but they found that families either didn't pay or what was
contributed wasn't enough to cover the cost of the tachrichim (did I
spell that correctly?).
One member of the group said a synagogue she had belong to had charged
her around $1200 and presented the bill the day after her mother's
funeral. I believe now our synagogue may charge enough to cover the
cost of the shrouds and what other supplies are used.
What do other synagogues do? I can understanding perhaps charging a
bit more than just the cost of the tachrichim but at what point is it
too expensive and taking advantage of the family?
Dave
rena
purchased through the synagogue. A total package may cost up to 11 K,
our portion of that is currently $1345.00.
(I think when I started here 12 years ago, the fee was about 600.00)
Half of our fee covers the casket, tachrichim , supplies and honoraria
paid to our Tahara teams. The other half of the fee covers the cost
of heat, lights and telephone, my salary and operating expenses.
For years, no one knew what it cost to "handle a case", and the Board
would include investment interest in what was essentially our
operating budget. That has been remedied, interest is not used for
operations, and the operation must cover the expenses through
estimating the number of cases and setting an appropriate fee.
Two years ago, we added 75.00 to each case, put specifically toward
our Capital repair fund (which has since paid for two new furnaces
etc.) This is included in the 1345.00.
As we are non profit, we pass along the expenses of casket etc, at our
cost.
Not sure if this has helped, be well
Rena
Dan Levy
approximately $5,200.00 inclusive.
The only additional expense of the family would be outstanding Shul expenses
such as dues etc. which the Chapel does not collect.
We have 3 Shul's and 1 level of traditional halacha service to the
community. It works for us, however I can certainly understand the level of
frustration that larger communities have in meeting the needs of many.
Therein lies the truth that differences from one community to another is
simply not right nor wrong, but meeting the needs and expectations of how
things have been done in the past and local tradition. It is important
however that we keep an eye on the bigger picture.
Dan Levy
United Hebrew Memorial Chapel
lchaim
Thanks for the replies. In the replies so far to my question, the
costs mentioned seem cover the entire funeral (casket, etc.). In our
situation we are a small synagogue (somewhat less than 200 families).
The funeral home would contact the synagogue and ask if "we" wanted to
prepare the body or let the funeral home do it. So, the family is
paying the funeral home for the casket, and whatever else they
provide. All WE do is the tahara. There have only been two in our
synagogue since I've been involved over the past 6 months. What is
reasonable cost? Is it expected for the family to "pay" the Rabbi
for this (in addition to the tahara supplies) or this generally part
of what is expected of the Rabbi as part of his job responsibilities
with the synagogue (weddings, funerals, Bar Mitzvah, briss, etc.)?
Is there a difference in what to charge if the deceased is a member of
the synagogue as opposed to a relative of a member or non-affiliated
in any way?
Thanks again for your thoughtful answers!
Dave
Regina Sandler-Phillips
I think it's important to distinguish among the various costs of
Jewish burial services, along with their implications for synagogue
membership and community. It sounds like several of these costs may
have been conflated in your inquiry.
Like many synagogues through the centuries, our synagogue in Brooklyn,
New York offers burial plots to members for purchase at greatly
reduced rates (in our case, less than half of local market rate). As
part of our broader network of congregational support, we also
maintain an arrangement with a cooperating local funeral home to offer
a simple Jewish funeral plan to our members, at a cost well below
other known NYC alternatives (excluding the local Hebrew Free Burial
Association). The terms of the plan satisfy all requirements of State
law, and eliminate the need for the bereaved to visit the funeral home
prior to the funeral. Our synagogue receives no income from this
arrangement, which is administered by volunteers from our Burial
Committee and Hevra Kadisha.
Our cooperating funeral director gives us takhrikhim and all necessary
supplies free of charge (although we maintain our own supply kits with
takhrikhim in the event that we are called to another local funeral
home). I should mention that our hevra is committed to using the less
expensive muslin takhrikhim. Rabban Gamaliel's directive (as recorded
in the Talmud, Moed Katan 27a-b) that he be buried in flaxen garments
is clearly presented in the context of rabbinic concerns "for the
honor of the poor," and is followed by Rav Pappa's uncontested
assertion that "nowadays, [burial] is customary even in hemp cloth
worth one zuz!" Today, linen shrouds are the most expensive, and some
authorities even countenance a two-class system whereby poor people
are "permitted" to use less expensive fabrics. We believe that this
negates the original rabbinic concern.
The Shulkhan Arukh declares that "The dead is not to be buried in
expensive shrouds, even for a prince of Israel. It has been the
custom to bury in white garments" (Yoreh De'ah 352:1-2). The
connection between the flaxen (Hebrew: pishtan) garments of Rabban
Gamaliel and the linen (Hebrew: bahd) garments of the High Priest
appears to be a later addition to burial custom; the recitation of
Leviticus 16:4 is not found in Ma'avar Yabok. We try to uphold "the
honor of the poor" by using muslin takhrikhim for every meit/ah, and
their cost is minimal.
While I can understand charging for the services of a community-based
hevra that serves multiple synagogues as well as the unaffiliated, I
would strongly discourage a synagogue-based hevra from charging for
its services. These services are part of what makes a congregation a
true community, and should be subsidized as such from the synagogue
budget.
With best wishes and many blessings for your developing sacred
fellowship,
Regina
Rabbi Regina L. Sandler-Phillips, MSW, MPH
hevra dot kadisha at psjc dot org
Libby Bottero
Here is what we do. We are not a huge congregation either. Families go
through the funeral homes for funeral arrangements including cost of
caskets. If the family is Jewish and they call the temple office to ask
for chevra kadisha services (taharah, shiva minyan, meal of consolation)
then we provide them, with a suggested donation to cover the cost of
shrouds, etc (under $100). If the family belongs to the temple, then the
services of a rabbi for funeral are included in dues. If the family is
not a member of the temple AND they want a rabbi to officiate, then the
cost is something like $400 (if they have it) to cover rabbi and office
staff time. (Other life-cycle events for non-members requesting a rabbi
are also about the same suggested price; e.g. weddings, bris,etc). If
they don't want a rabbi, our chevra kadisha will provide what we can,
including lay leaders. I would guess that about half of the deaths we
deal with are for non-affiliated Jews in the general Jewish community;
some of them make a donation, some can't. No one is turned away. We do
not charge for the mitzvah of taharah. If we were a larger community,
however, with larger volume and larger costs, then I think we'd have to
look at how much we as a community could subsidize. But so far, our
chevra kadisha has been able to subsist on donations from families of
the deceased; our committee is not a line item in the temple's budget so
any money we get for supplies is donated from families and our time and
energy is all volunteer. It works for now.
Libby
Chavkin, Nisan
Our group, the Progressive Chevra Kadisha, is a collaborative venture of
four partner communities in northern Chicago and its immediate suburbs
of Evanston & Skokie. In our area, the funeral homes provide the
tachrichim, and the families purchase the aron.
We charge a nominal fee - $72 - for several reasons, including (a) so
that the family can see that this service was provided (b) to quantify
this service for the family right on the funeral bill; and (c) to ensure
that the funeral home does not bill the family "extra" for providing any
"traditional" services. We use the fees to offset printing costsfor our
taharah manual, the little publicity we put out, and to provide a fund
that we can use for training and learning experiences [e.g., bringing in
a scholar from out of town, sending someone to the annual Kavod v'Nichum
conference]. In the event that a family cannot afford a taharah [a
situation we have yet to encounter during our 3-plus years of work], we
will either waive the fee or one of our rabbis has offered to cover the
fee out of a discretionary fund.
Hope this helps.
- Nisan Chavkin
Progressive Chevra Kadisha
Evanston, Illinois