Chevra Kadisha News - Published by Kavod v'Nichum

Av 5762 - July 2002

 

Kavod v'Nichum is pleased to announce that the dates of the North American Chevra Kadisha Conference will be June 22-24, 2003. The conference will be held at B'nai Israel Synagogue in Rockville, MD, a Washington, DC suburb. Much more information will be available in the next few months. For now, hold that date.

A 20 minute video demonstrating Taharah will be available in the next few months from the Jewish Funeral Directors Association.

David Zinner, Executive Director of Kavod v'Nichum, spoke at the Islam in North America Conference 2002 on the evolution of Jewish models that help maintain funeral and burial traditions in a Western society. There are incredible similarities between Jewish and Muslim practices including ritual washing, simple dressing, no casket, and immediate ground burial. Copies of his paper may be obtained by request.
In the Company of Hope: Lifting Spirits through Bikur Cholim, the 15th Annual Bikur Cholim Conference will be on Sunday, November 10, 2002. Sponsored by the New York City Jewish Board of Family and Children's Services, the all day conference at 130 E. 59th It will feature workshops on humor, creative writing and group building.  For more info, contact Vicki Rosenstreich, 212-399-2685 ext 229.

The Last Acts Writers Project helps entertainment media improve the accuracy of depiction of terminal illness and death in film and television. 

The Czech Heritage Action Initiative (C.H.A.I.) supports the restoration, conservation and preservation of 334 Jewish cemeteries and a large number synagogues in the Czech Republic. Czech cemeteries reach back more than 500 years and offer a unique opportunity to explore and preserve Jewish history that is unparalleled anywhere else in Central and Eastern Europe. Lisa Feder, P.O.Box 516, Deerfield, IL 60015.  

Will The Circle Be Unbroken - Reflections on Death, Rebirth, and Hunger for a Faith by Studs Terkel, contains over 60 short interviews from a very diverse group of people who confront death in their everyday lives, whether as policemen, firemen, emergency health workers, doctors, or nurses. Summer beach reading for a Chevra Kadisha addict. From New Press.

The Summer 2002 issue of Parabola is devoted to numerous articles related to  Death, including Why We Wash the Dead - Exploring Jewish Ceremonial Washing by Leslie What. This article covers both the Tahara rituals as well as their emotional context.  In a recent e-mail Leslie said,  "I work with Temple Beth Israel and Ahavas Torah in Eugene, Oregon.  It has been an amazing and humbling experience and one I hope I've brought honor to by writing about it.  We are, for the most part, not a strictly religious community; many people have found it important to return to Judaism after death, its often the first time they've come back to community since a much earlier time."

In our June issue we had a question about tachrichim. Here's a response we received coincidentally also from Eugene....

 

Very nice issue of CK News! I'm writing to respond to the request from Elizabeth Menkin re tachrichim.

 

For many years we got all our Chevra Kadisha supplies from an Orthodox supply shop. As I recall, their tachrichim run about $75 or maybe now closer to $100. Their address is Klein Brothers, 4104 - 14th Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11219.

 

Our Chevra Kadisha spent a lot of time discussing the pros & cons of continuing with a traditional set of tachrichim (mitznepheth, michnaysayim, kethoneth, kittel, avnet, etc.). However, our congregation is Reconstructionist, not Orthodox. We decided to try the simpler caftan type shroud, while still keeping the traditional version on hand for those who want it. The shrouds are made by a local person in Ashland -- they are very simple one-piece cotton garment, one-size-fits-all. So we have both styles available, depending on the wishes of the family.

 

The Chevra Kadisha in Corvallis, Oregon also uses the Ashland shrouds. We actually made up a model shroud from a caftan pattern with the idea of making our own, but once we saw the Ashland shroud we liked it better. So far, everyone has opted for the simpler caftan or kittel style shroud -- and wrapped in the sovev sheet. We started getting our shrouds from the Chevra Kadisha in Ashland, Oregon through Paul Firnstein of Arkwood Caskets in Ashland, Oregon. The shrouds are about $36.  We also get some of our plain pine boxes from them. They are kosher and inexpensive and available by overnight shipping.

 

We still order a few of the multi-piece tachrichim from Klein Bros. in NY in case anyone wants to use it, but once we went to the one-piece garment we found it easier and cheaper to use.

 

Thanks again for your good work in putting out the CK News! Shalom.

Libby Bottero, Temple Beth Israel Chevra Kadisha, Eugene, Oregon.