The North American Chevra Kadisha Conference

Proposal written by bbb

Overview
Our xxx is raising $50,000 to send yyy people to the Chevra Kadisha Conference. The first, North American Chevra Kadisha Conference will provide training, identify resources and encourage networking among Chevra Kadisha groups and bereavement committees in U.S. and Canadian synagogues and communities. The Conference, June 22-24, 2003 in Rockville, Maryland, will bring together 100-200 representatives from large and small communities, both urban and rural, including current Chevra Kadisha members, lay leaders, rabbis, students, funeral professionals, educators, counselors and authors, from all Jewish branches. 

The two-day Conference will include plenary lectures, small workshops, panels, exhibits, hands-on demonstrations, group brainstorming, and networking. We will present workshops on organizing a Chevra Kaddisha, practical demonstrations on how to do Tahara, discussions of cemetery management, examples of negotiated funeral contracts and hear about community owned non-profit funeral homes. We will explore Chevra Kadisha practices and models that range from simple to comprehensive. We will discuss the history, the current state and the future of the Chevra Kadisha movement. Participants will gain knowledge and leadership skills to start or enhance their local Chevra and they will learn where they can turn to find additional help and resources in their work. 

What Does Kavod v'Nichum do?
We have gathered a board and volunteers who are an active and knowledgeable group of men and women, lay leaders and Rabbis, from different movements, and who are dedicated to the development and growth of Chevra Kadisha movement. 

We have done extensive work with the Jewish Funeral Practices Committee of Greater Washington (JFPCGW) an umbrella of 40 synagogues in the Washington, DC area. They assist synagogues by teaching ritual washing and training volunteer chaverim to work with families. They also provides community wide educational workshops and negotiate a citywide funeral contract that is estimated to have saved families over $5 million in funeral costs in the last 10 years.

Kavod v'Nichum developed and maintains a comprehensive web site with hundreds of pages of material, visited by over 50,000 people in the last 12 months. We publish a monthly Chevra Kadisha newsletter. We serve as consultants to the Palm Beach Board of Rabbis assisting them with problems at two cemeteries in South Florida. 

Local Chevra Kadisha
We began our Chevra Kadisha [bereavement committee, cemetery] in 19xx. A dedicated group of yy people provide zz services. This year our goal is to aaaa.

Importance of the Chevra Kadisha Conference
The Chevra Kadisha Conference will provide us with a unique opportunity to study, learn, practice and network. We recognize that our work is important, but also know that mutual support and continuing education provide a strong base for us to go forward. 

How the Community Can Help
We are asking community organizations to support our work by sponsoring local presenters and attendees. $2,000 covers the costs of each attendee, including transportation, hotel, food, and registration. $5,000 covers the costs of each speaker, including the above itemized direct costs and an honorarium. Would you make a $10,000 contribution to help cover these costs and help the local community?

Conclusion
A comprehensive Chevra Kadisha development program is important because it touches so many aspects of Jewish life. Marginal congregants are drawn into the synagogue. Active congregants find this type of volunteer activity rewarding at the practical and spiritual, economic and religious levels. Every synagogue member can contribute and every member will benefit. Helping bereaved families with logistics meets an immediate need. Helping them through their grief provides a special physical and spiritual bond that can be the foundation for a strong synagogue community.

Chevra Kadisha work encourages heightened cooperation between the different branches of Judaism. Synagogues see enhanced member participation and strengthened intergenerational continuity. Leaders will see new educational and economic opportunities for their Jewish institutions. Individuals will deepen their spirituality and appreciation for life.

The Chevra Kadisha movement is beginning to blossom throughout the United States and Canada. When we experience a death in our family we know that the intercession of the Chevra Kadisha lifts the burden of making arrangements and provides us the space to focus on the memories of our loved ones and the attendant emotions. Bereavement is an emotional and spiritual journey, fraught with physical and psychological barriers. Bereavement is also an opportunity for growth and service. There can be no higher mitzvah than the work of honoring the dead and comforting the bereaved. The work is chesed shel emet, an act of loving kindness, because the dead cannot return that kindness. There can be no higher mitzvah in our community than the creation of the Chevra Kadisha, because we show our commitment to chesed shel emet.