Conference Program – Preliminary – Kavod v'Nichum – Jewish Funerals, Burial and Mourning

The 10th North American Chevra Kadisha and Jewish Cemetery Conference will be held Sunday June 10 to Tuesday June 12 at the American Jewish University, Familian Campus, 15600 Mulholland Dr. in Bel-Air, California 90077.

	Chevra Kadisha	Tahara	Chaplaincy	Cemetery
8:00-noon	Sunday Registration – (Brunch at 10)
noon-12:30	Introductions: Hosted by David Zinner
12:30-12:45	Welcome From Sponsors: Michael Slater, Rabbis Mark Diamond & Jason Weiner, Kalsman
12:45-1:00	Welcome from Track Coordinators: Harley Felstein, Carol Cunradi, Rabbi Anne Brener
1:00-2:00	Opening Speaker – Comforting the Comforters – Rabbi David Wolpe and Craig Taubman
2:00-2:10	B R E A K
2:10-3:10	Tahara Demo – Rick Light		Self-Care for Those Who Care – Rabbi Rochelle Robins	Cemetery Marketing – Martha White and Leonard Lawrence
3:10-4:10			Chaplaining a Community in the Wake of a Disaster – Rabbi Myrna Matsa
4:10-4:20	B R E A K
4:20-5:20	Ethical Wills – Muriel Dance	Moving Tahara – Movement – Andrea Hodos & Aliza Shapiro	Becoming a Caring Community – Rabbi Anne Brener – Part 1 Part 2 Part 3	Israeli Cemeteries – Rabbi Joe Wernik
5:20-6:20	Gender Issues in the Chevra Kadisha – Joel Kushner & Eliron Hamburger
6:20-6:30	Mincha	B R E A K
6:30-7:30	Sunday Dinner 6:30-7:30
7:30-8:30	Plenary Session: End of Life Encounters From the Front Lines – How well meaning clergy and individuals can sometimes makes things worse – Rabbi Jason Weiner
8:30-9:00	Ma’ariv	B R E A K
8:30-10:00	Evening Program: Natural Burial & Green Cemeteries – Rabbi Stuart Kelman; Father Charles Morris; Joe Sehee; Shari Wof; Jeremy Kaplan		Evening Program: Moving Tahara – Movement – Andrea Hodos

Time	Chevra Kadisha	Tahara	Chaplaincy	Cemetery
7:00-8:30	Shachrit 7-8:00	Monday Breakfast 7:00-8:30		Monday Breakfast 7:00-8:00
8:30-9:30	Morning Plenary: Psycho-Spiritual Preparation for Shiva: Observations of a Rebellious Daughter – Reb Mimi Feigelson			8am Bus to Mt. Sinai Forest Lawn
9:30-9:40	B R E A K			Introduction/site tour/explanation of Mt Sinai Operations – Forest Lawn location – Len Lawrence
9:40-10:40	Outreach to the next Generation – Terry Wunder	Processing Emotions After Doing a Tahara – Rabbi Mel Glazer	Journey of the Soul – Rabbi Elie Spitz
10:40-11:40	Chevra Kadisha – Across the Pond and Down Under			10:30 – Bus to Mt. Sinai Simi Valley
11:40-11:50	B R E A K			Mt. Sinai Simi Valley – Site Tour – Mt. Sinai Staff
11:50-12:30	Monday Lunch 11:50-12:30
12:30-12:45	Kavod v’Nichum and Gamliel Institute Update: Rabbi Stuart Kelman and Dr. Michael Slater			Lunch (Kosher Chinese)
12:45-1:30	Lunch Plenary: Grief as a Spiritual Path – Rabbi Anne Brener			1:15 Cemetery Archictecture – Robert Levonian
1:30-1:40	B R E A K
1:40-2:35	Identity Transitions – Stories of the Living and the Dead – Reb Mimi Feigelson	Infection Control in Tahara – Dr. Joel Ackelsburg	Chaplaincy as Outreach – Rabbi Pearl Bar Lev
2:45-3:40		Tahara as an Environmental Practice – Rabbi Janet Madden	Being with the Dying – Rabbi Carla Howard	3:30 – Halachic Issues – Rabbi Elliot Dorff
3:40-3:50	B R E A K
3:50-4:50	Chevra Kadisha Organizing in LA	Who’s Talking to Whom When We Do a Tahara? Rabbi Stuart Kelman and Dan Fendel Part 1 Part 2 Part 3	Spiritual Support by the Numbers – Christina Shu
4:50-5:50			Existential Pain in Cancer Patients – Rabbi Nina Redl
5:50-6:00	Mincha	B R E A K		Bus returns
6:00-7:00	Monday Dinner 6:00-7:00
7:00-8:00	Evening Plenary: Rabbi Elliot Dorff – Ethical, Environmental and Financial Issues in the Burial vs. Cremation Discussion – Part 1 Part 2
8:00-8:10	Ma’ariv	B R E A K
8:15-10:00	Evening Program: Chanting During Tahara – Rabbi Shefa Gold		Evening Program: Networking Discussion – moderated by David Zinner

Time	Chevra Kadisha	Tahara	Chaplaincy	Cemetery
7:00-7:30	Shachrit	Chanting with Rabbi Shefa Gold
7:30-8:30	Tuesday Breakfast 7:30-8:30
8:30-9:30	Breakfast Plenary: From Obits to Headlines – How Do We Get Media for the Chevra Kadisha – Rob Eshman – Jewish Journal of LA
9:30-10:00	State of the Chevra Kadisha Movement, David Zinner
10:00-10:10	B R E A K
10:10-11:10	Organizing a North American Education Effort – Burial vs Cremation	Blessing of the Hands – Rabbi Me’irah Iliinsky	Creating Funerals for Unaffiliated Families – Rabbi Stan Levy	The Richmond, VA Cemetery Model – Bette Rose Webne
11:10-12:10	Muslim Practices Around Death and Burial		Chanting at the End of Life – Rabbis Shefa Gold and Anne Brener	Your Cemetery – Insurance, Endowment funds – Unanswered Questions Unresolved Issues – Brainstorming and Networking
12:10-12:30	Tuesday Lunch 12:10-12:30 (take-away available)
12:30-2:00	Kavod v’Nichum Board Meeting
2:00-3:00	B R E A K
3:00-10:00	Tuesday afternoon and Evening – Gamliel Institute
8:00-noon	Wednesday – Gamliel Institute