Chevra Kadisha News - Published by Kavod v'Nichum
Shevat 5764 - January 2004 - 667 subscribers
Save
the date and plan to attend - The
Second North American Chevre Kadishah Conference in Las Vegas, Nevada - June
6 - 8, 2004
The first minyan of responses has come in for the Chevra Kadisha Study Tour to New York City, Prague and Israel? Experience first hand the history of the Chevra Kadisha, hands on learning in Israel, and extensive networking? We're planning for a June 2005 trip. Let us know if you are interested. Please e-mail Lynn at lgreenhough@shaw.ca.
It must be extra cold in Winnipeg this winter. Rena asks: What kind of caskets are people using in cold climates? How do people complete the burials when the ground is frozen and chunky? Do people bring in sand/gravel or other granular material?
Continuing
with the cemetery theme... Learn about the Modern
Burial System –
double depth lawn crypts - See the 6 minute video from Rockhampton in
Australia. The
Israel Religious Action Center has 7
articles on cemeteries in Israel. The Jewish
Gen web site contains the JewishGen
Online Worldwide Burial Registry (JOWBR), a database of names and other
identifying information from cemeteries and burial records worldwide, Also
included is the International
Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies - Cemetery Project
Seven articles from the Queens Chevra Kadisha including a fascinating analysis of Chevra Kadisha groups called Respect for a Sacred Society. "Why it is that for many years the Chevra and the traditions it stood for were often ridiculed and largely ignored? Why would Funeral Directors scorn the Chevra and avoid involving it unless forced to do so by the family of the deceased or his Rabbi? "
"....the devout, sincerely religious Jew who, in America, perceived himself to be in an atmosphere dangerous to the maintenance of almost every facet of his chosen way of life. Such Jews and the Chevras that represented their communities came to the Jewish funeral home to do battle with the funeral director in a holy war where every compromise was perceived as territory lost. These Chevras, representing societies or congregations, had little understanding of the practical and economic needs of the funeral director, nor were they willing to learn. They were satisfied with the knowledge that when one of their own passed on, they could pressure the funeral home into conducting the funeral their way.
"In other communities there developed a Chevra comprised of those people who could not make it in the business world, who found a way of making a dollar by doing a job no one else would do. They commercialized the Chevra. Their concern was not the respect for the work they were doing, and if necessitated by time or convenience, the Tahara would be done quickly, without sensitivity, without any real standard of excellence. Their purpose was served as long as it was nominally performed and they were paid."
A class in Los Angeles, Six Feet Under: Death and Memorialization from Ancient to Modern Times will be offered on Thursdays, 7–9 p.m., February 12–April 15, 2004.
Upcoming conferences…
Jewish Orthodox Feminist Alliance Fifth International Conference on Feminism & Orthodoxy, "Zachar u-Neqevah Bara Otam: Women and Men in Partnership," will take place on President's Day Weekend, February 15-16, 2004.
Sat
2/28/04 thru Tue 3/2/04. Mark your calendar and join us in Miami, Florida for
the Ajas annual Conference. This year we will feature special programs and
sessions for first timers, lay/board leadership, development and finances.
Miami, Florida, United States, Harvey Tillipman, 202-543-7500, 60s+, Jewish, Association
of Jewish Aging Services of North America
The Academic Coalition for Jewish Bioethics will hold a two-day Inaugural Conference at the Wyndham Hotel In Philadelphia on Sunday, February 29 & Monday, March 1, 2004. The conference theme is Addressing Quality Of Life: A Challenge For Jewish Bioethics. Academic centers foster Jewish approaches to biomedical issues: this coalition explores new expressions of Jewish healthcare ethics. A major national conference presents current research, fresh viewpoints, and progressive interpretations of traditional ethics texts. Coalition members include: Kalsman Institute, HUC-JIR; Center for Bioethics, University of Pennsylvania; Reconstructionist Rabbinical College; HUC-UC Center for the Study of Ethics and Contemporary Moral Problems; University of Judaism; the Louis Finkelstein Institute for Religious and Social Studies, Jewish Theological Seminary; and the Shalom Hartman Institute in Israel.
Wrestling with the Angel, A Plain Pine Box, Tahara Manual of Practices and other books are available for purchase from Kavod v'Nichum. For orders over $100, shipping is free and you will receive a bottle of Monsel's solution and a Chevra Kadisha Conference t-shirt. Go to the web site at www.Jewish-funerals.org and click on the link to books and other products.
Do you enjoy reading Chevra Kadisha News? Is it helpful and useful? We hope so and also hope you'll contribute to support our work. We need your financial contribution to continue to provide you services. Donations of any size are welcome. Make your check out to Kavod v'Nichum and send it to 8112 Sea Water Path, Columbia, MD 20145 or call David Zinner at 410-799-8070 or e-mail to donate@jewish-funerals.org for more information.