Chevra Kadisha News - Published by Kavod v'Nichum

Tishrei 5763 - September 2002

L'shana Tova! 

9/11 Remembrance - UJA Federation of New York

Readings for Commemorating 9/11 - Reform Movement

September-11 Anniversary - Memorial Events and Resources

 

To commemorate the first anniversary of September 11, the Museum of Jewish Heritage presents an exhibition that observes the yahrzeit of our collective loss. A yahrzeit is the Jewish observance that marks the anniversary of a death. The exhibition will reflect on the day of tragedy and the many responses to that event. Yahrzeit: September 11 Observed is on view August 29, 2002 through January 5, 2003

In NYC, Jews have two additional funeral options: Manhattan's Plaza Jewish Community Chapel and Levaya, a program offered through the Orthodox Union and Parkside Memorial Chapels, in Brooklyn and Queens. Three years after New York's attorney general charged a Houston-based funeral home conglomerate with "monopolistic practices," alternatives have yet to bury the competition. Read Julie Wiener's article Low-Cost Funerals Slowly Making Inroads.

Rabino Adrián Gottfried from Comunidade Shalom Synagogue says that there are about 25 synagogues in in São Paulo Brazil. Comunidade Shalom along with the Congregregação Israelita Paulista has a Chevra Kadisha Committee that does tahara with approximately 25 volunteers. The Shalom Community also has a Chesed Shel Emet that take care of minyanim & services for avelim. In São Paulo the Chevra Kadisha owns the three Jewish cemeteries in town.

A Florida businessman has fulfilled the last wish of his late father by laying his ashes to rest in a Jewish cemetery in Prague. Rules are broken so man's last wish, a funeral in Prague, can be fulfilled.

A top SCI executive testified that he knew there were no ground markings in the Menorah Gardens Cemetery. A former gravedigger testified that he was fired after he refused to move bodies to allow for new burials. He talked of bones flying, digging up a skull, dumping pieces of casket and the foul stench of decomposing remains. Testimony continues regarding certification of the class and punitive damages.
In a 9 page article (with 5 pages of footnotes) titled The Desecration of Graves in Eretz Yisrael: The Struggle to Honor the Dead and Preserve Our Historical Legacy, Rabbi Yitzchok Breitowitz states, "....One is permitted to excavate and remove remains (1) if they were buried there without the permission of the landowner;22 (2) if the grave and remains are likely to be damaged by water or sewage backups, vandalism, etc. and there are no alternatives to removal that could solve the problem;23 (3) if the positioning of a grave causes damage to other graves;24 or (4) if the person was buried in one place with the specific intention (t'nai) of later removing his remains to a different site.25 Disinterment is also permitted in order to bring a met to Eretz Yisrael or to kever avot (burial plot of his ancestors)...."

Isaac Burgauer, a Jewish Confederate Soldier, was buried in Chambersburg, PA. Cemetery receives marker.

Paula Stark writes: I work in a hospital and do non-clinical education. Most of the work is around organizational development, diversity, customer services, retreats and items for personal and professional development. I am committed not so much to teach but to learning wherever, however, whenever. I visited this very old Jewish cemetery in Chicago....Waldheim...where my great grand parents are buried and two of my great aunts. One of my first memories in life was going out to this cemetery when I was about 3 and my great grand mother was being buried. I returned there two years ago when the last of my grand mother's sisters was buried. By now I was 54 but there were actually parts of this cemetery that I remembered. It was January in Chicago and even though it was a warm day in the 50's it was damp and windy. I vowed that someday I would come back. I was fascinated by many of the old grave stones and wanted to take pictures. I am also an avid photographer.

This past weekend I had a chance to both be in Chicago and have the time to go out to Waldheim. I was amazed that so many of the headstones had these little oval pictures of the deceased. I did not remember them from my last visit. This section of the cemetery is old with some graves going back to 1925. After locating my relatives and taking some pictures I wandered the cemetery and shot several rolls of film. I felt incredibly attached to the spirit of this place. I don't know that any more of my family is buried there though there might be some, but I felt a kinship to all the Jewish names I recognized. I felt like it was honoring my heritage. My grandparents are located in two other cemeteries in Chicago. My parents were both cremated and their ashes are gone. It is interesting to me that what drew me back was this very old cemetery and its heritage. I had been close to my great aunt..the one buried there two years ago.

While I was taking pictures one of my pieces of papers with directions and notes on it blew against her grave. It actually stuck somehow under the picture and I had a hard time getting it loose. I am not very attached to family or traditions. This great aunt, though she was not married, kept track of many grand nieces and nephews, great grands and great great grands. She felt a need to keep a thread running though this family. She was originally one of 12 children. She seemed to grab that piece of paper and my attention to remind me that these people were my heritage, my family and life. I have developed the four rolls of film and am working through what I am going to do with them. I feel the need to put them together in a piece of art work and that brings forth the sense of heritage I so strongly felt that day.

Dr. James Tulsky, associate director of the Duke Institute on Care at the End of Life, [Durham, NC] Beth El Synagogue President and a member of the Beth El Chevra Kadisha, was honored at the White House on July 12 for his research into the quality of life at the end of life. A general internist at the Durham Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Center and an associate professor of medicine at Duke University Medical Center, Tulsky and colleagues identified six possible interventions designed to improve its quality of life at the end of life -- pain and symptom management, clear decision making, preparation for death, completion, contributing to others and affirmation of the whole person. JAMA and Annals of Internal Medicine.
The Circle of Life Award, presented annually to recognize innovation to improve the care provided to dying people and those around them, is now accepting nominations for the 2003 awards. The Circle of Life Award is given to up to three programs annually and provides a $25,000 award to further the work of the organization. The Circle of Life Award is sponsored by Last Acts Partners the American Hospital Association in conjunction with the American Medical Association, the American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging, and the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization. The award is supported by a grant from The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
Books on Death and Bereavement. Articles on end of life care in the ICU setting.

Help us build a database of Chevra Kadisha groups. Please complete the contact form on our website. If any of our readers knows of a Chevra Kadisha, please let us know how to get in touch with them. If you'd like to do a survey of Chevra Kadisha groups in your area, let us know that too. We appreciate any assistance.

Kavod v'Nichum needs individual and organizational support for our Chevra Kadisha work.  Our Founding Member Campaign is raising $100,000 to match foundation grants. Founding members will be praised and thanked and listed on our web site. Shomer - $5-10,000 from non-profit funeral homes or $1,000 from Chevra Kadisha groups, bereavement committees or other groups or Chaver - $360 from individuals. Todah Rabah (thank you) to all of the shomrim (guardians) and chaverim (friends). Please make out your contribution 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 zinner@jewish-funerals.org for more information.