Chevra Kadisha News - Published by Kavod v'Nichum
Iyar 5763 - May 2003 - 570 subscribers
Letter from Winnipeg
Shalom to all my Chevra friends...
In the last issue of Chevra Kadisha News, Lynn Greenhough invited us to sit at this table together, to share our stories, and our interest in all things Chevra. This month I have the privilege of having the “tish” at my place, in Winnipeg, Canada.
Where are we and who are we? Situated in the heart of the continent, we are a couple of hours drive north of Grand Forks, North Dakota. We are a 2 hour flight from Toronto, and a one hour flight from Calgary, Alberta. In a city of about 700,000 we have a Jewish community of 13 - 14,000. Winnipeg has 4 completely Jewish cemeteries, with a total of 200 burials per year, for which Chesed Shel Emes provides mortuary and tahara services.
Chesed is an independent, non profit organization, with a Board of Directors comprised of representatives from each of the community’s synagogues and each of the 4 cemeteries. With one full time Director, we serve the community full time. We recruit and train volunteers for Tahara and are working on the development of a Community Shmira Group. I know that Shmira is a concern in many communities.
Founded in 1930 by a group of volunteers, with a mandate to provide equal access to Jewish burial according to Orthodox tradition, Chesed Shel Emes now finds itself ready to take the leadership in bringing the traditional philosophy of Kavod v’Nichum to life in our community.
Working first to identify and bring together the many partners, we can start filling the gaps, to create a broader and more cohesive approach to dying, death, burial, grieving and mourning. Our first project is to develop a comprehensive Shiva kit, which will be user friendly, and to train a core group of volunteers who will deliver the kits, help with the details, and return to pick it up, and follow up, with the family. How have other communities managed this? I’d love to hear any ideas. More on this at the conference and in future issues of Chevra Kadisha News.
Outside my own community, I have been searching out Canadian Chevra where ever we may be... Victoria, Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Regina, Saskatoon, Medicine Hat, Alberta, Thunder Bay, Hamilton, London, Ottawa ,Windsor, Quebec City, Montreal, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia.
Like trying to complete a puzzle, without knowing how many pieces there are.. I’ve been making phone calls and writing e-mails, asking a lot of questions and finding some amazing links [with Chevra folks], from Rochel Berman in Boca Raton, who is writing a book on Tahara, and who remembers my dad from years ago; to Richard Berger in Seattle, Washington, who met my cousin, also named Rena, in Boston; to Mary Melnychuk from Saskatoon, coming to Winnipeg for a wedding in which a good friend of mine is involved.
Creating a network of support and information, sharing supplies and stories, perhaps a Canada wide toll free number, Chevra chat room, of course all leading to a regional or national get together...I’m already looking forward to it. A Canadian overview will be featured in an upcoming issue of Chevra Kadisha News. Chaverim.., come out, come out, wherever you are.., join us...
I believe that those who are fortunate enough to have personnel or financial resources have an obligation to reach out to the smaller communities...we are all links in a chain which spans time and space. I welcome your interest and leadership experience from all corners of the country. Email me at rena@chesedshelemes.org .
In my question file this month... How does our intimate involvement in death affect our children, how aware are they, do they grow to become involved themselves? I'm curious about husbands and wives who both perform tahara, how did it come about?...or other family members... any sisters or brothers who volunteer together...? is there interest in an email discussion group so we can all be in touch...? and of course, what are people reading?...Looking for details on transmission of SARS?
Many thanks to those you who have taken the time to talk with me, answer my many questions, the sharing of your stories and the nitty gritty details. Our similarities out-reach our differences by far, and I am always humbled, honored and honestly touched by our conversations.
As Lynn says...”We’re different.” Yes Lynn, we are.
And I say, Todah, Hashem, for this awesome opportunity to make a difference in the experience of dying and death, and living, in this community and perhaps beyond. How grateful I am to be here now. To my friends, David and Lynn, who set me on fire last year, sent me home with a vision of what could be, and with a laugh to keep me going, kol hakavod, you are truly amazing.
I look forward to meeting each and every one of you at the upcoming conference. Register today!!
We have over 120 registrants for the Chevra Kadisha Conference so far. Folks are coming from as far as Hawaii and Vancouver, from Las Vegas and Las Cruces, from Oklahoma City and New York City, from Portland and Ashland, from Washington state and Washington, DC, from San Antonio and San Francisco, from Charleston and Princeton and Reston. It is not too late to sign up.
The advance rate of $250 for the Chevra Kadisha Conference is good only until June 19, 2003. For information on workshops, speakers, hotels and on-line registration and payment for the June 22-24 conference, go to the web site at www.Jewish-funerals.org/conference.htm. If you need printed brochures, e-mail David: zinner@Jewish-funerals.org. Please pass this information on to others who might be interested. We're looking forward to seeing you.
And we've even heard that Las Vegas and Orlando might be interested in regional conferences in 2004. If you are interested in planning a regional Chevra Kadisha conference in 2004, drop us a line.
If you have ever dreamed of editing this News journal now is the time to sign up. The deadline for publication is the 15th of each month. Please, please know you do not require ‘techie’ expertise to do this work. You do not need to know how to assemble links to web pages; you do not have to be a professional web page manager to take on this challenge. If you are reading this, you, like me, have wanted to learn more about our traditions, and also probably lack the opportunity to share you obsession about Chevra Kadisha to the degree you would like.
Let’s make the newsletter our kitchen, our opportunity to share our questions, our errors, and our discoveries. Let’s share our first times and our learning. Chevra Kadisha News is the soup pot, the shulchan - it is where we all learn together. We look forward to hearing from future editors who would like to sign up for a month of learning.
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 support to continue to provide you services. Contributions 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. On-line credit card donations are also gladly accepted.