3 Tahara questions

[Rick Light]

Hi Everyone,

Last week when we were blessed to perform a Tahara, one of my team members, a Chabad rabbi, asked me 3 things that I did not have an immediate answer to give:

(1) If one were to find that a male deceased was not circumcised, should one perform a circumcision during the Tahara?  My first thought was that "no, that would be desecration of the body, and besides, if he lived as an uncircumcised Jew, he should be buried as he lived" - but through the rabbi's questions I thought perhaps I'm wrong.  What do you think?  Have any of you performed a circumcision during Tahara?

(2) In the next edition of my Tahara manual I will be including specific Hebrew chants for each phase of the Tahara process, written by Rabbi Shefa Gold.  In the past and currently I simply hum niggunim during the Tahara.  The Chabad rabbi questioned this and asked, "Are there traditional chants that should be used?"  I don't know where R Shefa got her chants, or why she chose the ones she did, however, his question is valid.  Is there any minhag or stronger lineage of tradition that suggests specific things should be chanted at specific times?  What are your thoughts?  I know Rabbi Regina Sandler-Philips has chants in her manual as well.  R Regina, where did yours come from?  Any guidance here is appreciated.

(3) In discussion it came out that the women of our chevra put the star onto the top of the casket at the head end, while the men put it at the foot of the casket.  I always thought it went at the foot end since that is the end we lead with when carrying or moving the deceased.  Is there a "right" way to do this, or is it local minhag?  Thoughts?

Thanks in advance for any/all suggestions and responses.

Blessings on this beautiful day,

  

       Rick

[Kerry Swartz]

To me, circumcising a deceased Jewish man would be akin to laser the
tattoos off my body once I'm dead. Or Mormons baptizing dead Jews. No way.

[Kerry Swartz]

Further to my earlier post, Rick, this is a situation that can fall into a yes/no answer were it an obvious situation of a Jewish male not having been circumcised while living. But what about a transgender male -> female who a some point converted to Judaism. Lived their life prior to and after conversion as a Jewish woman. Who might make up such a Tahara team has been the topic of great discussion, but Chabad wouldn't recognize transgender (let alone the conversion). Would they approach the situation with circumcision in mind?

[libby]

In response to the 3 questions, in our community:

1. We do not perform a circumcision nor do we remove a tattoo or repair
a piercing during taharah . We simply acknowledge without judgement that
this is how this individual has lived his or her life.

2. We do include chants and songs in our taharah manual, including some
of Rabbi Shefa Gold, Rabbi Yitzhak Husbands-Hankin, Rabbi Aryeh
Hirschfield z"l, and Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach z"l, among others. These are
the melodies we use in our Temple's religious services, so it seems only
natural for us to use them during our service of performing taharah for
the met. The chants and songs have become part of our Jewish community's
traditions, just as the melodies familiar to the Chabad rabbi have
become part of the customs and practices of the Lubavitch chasidim.
Knowing Rabbi Shefa, I would speculate that she "gets" her chants from
the depths of the soul and the heights of the heavens in prayerful
mindful meditation. This is pretty much what Reb Shlomo of blessed
memory used to say also.

3. We put the star on the head end of the wooden coffin for both men and
women so we all know which end is the head. There is more than one
custom for which direction to bury the coffin; some choose to have the
head facing east, others the feet facing east, and for most people it
just doesn't matter, in my experience. If the family expresses a
particular preference one way or the other, then we follow their wishes.
Otherwise, we tend to put the head facing east for the practical reason
that east is the uphill direction of the ground slope of our cemetery
space.

Libby

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[Israel Man]

Continuation of my last posting...

According to information I got from the Israeli Hevrah Kadisha (Orthodox) They circumcise the dead before giving him Tahara and burial. According to Israeli law they have to get permission of the family for the circumcision. If permission is not given they still do Tahara and burial.

 

 

Israel Man

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[cil...@comcast.net]

Here's my take on it:

 

1. It would seem to be a violation of the met as well as the family's trust to perform a circumcision without express permission to do so.

 

2. It is my understanding that there are traditional prayers that are said at different points during the washing and taharah. We have these in Hebrew and English.

 

3. It is my understanding that the star goes at the foot. I don't know why; that's just what the employees at the mortuary told us.

Susan

__________
Read my blog at http://www.jewishjournal.com/religiousandreform

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From: "Rick Light" <rickli...@gmail.com>
To: jewish-...@googlegroups.com
Sent: Monday, January 14, 2013 10:11:18 AM
Subject: [jewish-funerals] 3 Tahara questions

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[Fishel & Elianna]

#3   OH NO!!!  PLEASE check with burials sites ASAP!!!!!!!!   The Star goes at the FOOT and is used to determine which way the aron is buried.   You may have been burying all your women the wrong way.  oh DEAR.  For how long???

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[Israel Man]

Trans-gender has to be circumcised at 8 days old according to halacha. Here is a quote from the Talmud.

 

ככל זכר גם אנדרוגינוס נימול לשמונה, וכך נאמר במסכת שבת, קל"ה, א': "המול לכם כל זכר, כל - לרבות אנדרוגינוס"  . אלא שמילתו אינה דוחה שבת  . גם אין עליו איסור כרת כשלא נימול, כי באיסור כרת כתוב "וערל זכר" ולא כתוב "כל זכר"  אולם דעת המאירי בשבת קל"ד, דאנדרוגינוס אם גדל ולא מלו אותו אחרים, הרי הוא בתליית כרת עד שימול

About circumcision after death it looks to me that there is nothing like that apart of a dead baby under 30 days. I'm still searching for the source. What I have now is that the RAMBAM (Maimonides) said that a Jew who died un circumcised is under the punishment of "KARET". What I'm searching for is about if there is a need to make a Tahara and if he can be buried as a Jew. I'll post when I have a definite answer

Israel Man

 

 

 

From: Kerry Swartz <kerry....@gmail.com>
To: jewish-...@googlegroups.com
Sent: Tuesday, January 15, 2013 8:19 AM
Subject: Re: [jewish-funerals] 3 Tahara questions

Further to my earlier post, Rick, this is a situation that can fall into a yes/no answer were it an obvious situation of a Jewish male not having been circumcised while living. But what about a transgender male -> female who a some point converted to Judaism. Lived their life prior to and after conversion as a Jewish woman. Who might make up such a Tahara team has been the topic of great discussion, but Chabad wouldn't recognize transgender (let alone the conversion). Would they approach the situation with circumcision in mind?

Rick Light wrote:

(1) If one were to find that a male deceased was not circumcised, should one perform a circumcision during the Tahara?  My first thought was that "no, that would be desecration of the body, and besides, if he lived as an uncircumcised Jew, he should be buried as he lived" - but through the rabbi's questions I thought perhaps I'm wrong.  What do you think?  Have any of you performed a circumcision during Tahara?

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[Lawrence, Leonard]

Why the panic?

Does it really matter? Where in the Torah are we told where the star goes, how to tie the knots or any of the other traditions that have been transformed to laws. 

Each of our communities must wrestle with what they do and how they do it with the overriding knowledge that we are all doing a great mitzvah no matter how we do it.

Peace and joy 

Len Lawrence

General Manager

Mount Sinai Memorial Parks and Mortuaries

323-974-0283

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