Dignity Beyond Death: The Jewish Preparation for Burial
Most profound is the portion of the book dealing with the personal impact on those who perform tahara. Based on the sacred nature and extreme importance of this task, one may have assumed that all members of the chevra kadisha must meet the highest criteria of virtue and piety. In truth, while members of chevra kadisha are virtous and pious, they are also ordinary people with normal lifestyles, regular professions and everyday family obligations. Yet, they almost universally describe how extraordinary they feel when volunteering to participate in burial preparations. A social worker quoted in the book says, "I feel most gratified when the family of the bereaved does not know that I was a member of the team. It makes it more of an act of loving kindness if you receive no recognition or thanks. The satisfaction lies deep within my soul. Nobody can give it to me or take it away from me."Dignity Beyond Death is equally compelling to both the novice and experienced chevra kadisha member. For the uninitiated, the passionate voices recorded therein are gripping and mesmerizing and will likely evoke a newfound interest and appreciation. For those that have done tahara, the many stories, anecdotes, feelings and emotions are not only familiar, but articulately stated.This volume represents an excellent addition to any Jewish library. Rochel Berman is to be commended for courageously opening the door to this ancient and sacred practice and inviting us all to enter and learn more. --Rabbi Efrem Goldberg, The Jewish PressAbraham Joshua Heschel used to say that Judaism is the world's least known religion--even among Jews. Certainly the Jewish way of preparing the body for burial is almost completely unknown to most of us. Those who do it claim no credit and get no praise, and so it is little understood. And in the nonobservant Jewish world, where burial arrangements have been almost completely taken over by undertakers, hardly anything is known about the sacred tradition of tahara (purification), although recently many new burial societies have been formed in the Reform community.There are many Jewish societies, but only one is known as the hevra kaddisha, the holy society. This indicates the respect the tradition of caring for the dead is given.Rochel Berman's book Dignity Beyond Death is welcome and much needed. It contains testimonies from many members of the hevra kaddisha who say the sacred task has enriched their lives. It also. has a practical how-to that will be of great help to beginners, and it has much to teach us about the Jewish way in death, dying and living as well.The hevra kaddisha offers awesome dignity and care to those who have died; it is a responsibility, a commandment and an obligation the living owe them. But when you participate in a tahara or read about how much reverence for the body and soul goes into every one, the words "made in the image of God" take on a new reality.The tahara begins and ends by asking forgiveness from the dead person, who is addressed by name, for any disrespect that the hevra kaddisha may inadvertently show. The clothes that were once the sign of wealth or poverty are carefully removed. Then, with no idle chatter, the workers wash the body with meticulous care. A cascade of water, the sign of life, is poured over the body, which is then dressed in the final garments, the takhrikhim, an unornamented white gown without pockets because we can take nothing with us except our good deeds. Finally, the body is placed in a plain pine box, for the end of life is not a time for ostentation but for simplicity, equality and realism. This loving-kindness represents the heritage of Jewish values that the hevra kaddisha expresses in every act.The preparation room where the hevra performs its task is one of the few places on this earth where the rich and the poor, the famous and the unknown, the mighty and the powerless, the old and the young, are treated with equal care.Dignity Beyond Death will be a valuable resource to all who wish to rediscover this dimension of Jewish heritage. As Rabbi Irving Greenberg says in his moving introduction: "I feel a deep gratitude to Rochel Berman for undertaking to bring this good deed, this responsibility, to the attention of the people of Israel, so that more and more people will be the beneficiaries of this final act of love." --Jack Riemer, Hadassah MagazineI find this to be truly amazing, absolutely extraordinary. These people obviously have the capacity to love and to give in ways that I hope to emulate in the future. They are not recognized for what they do, but that is not its purpose. They aim to find "satisfaction of the soul." Nevertheless, on behalf of all of us, we owe a tremendous debt and extend our gratitude to the tahara volunteers and Chevra Kadishas throughout the entire world.Please realize that I have not touched the merest part of what Rochel Berman manages to relate in her book. It is a fantastic book. She herself has performed hundreds of taharas, if not more, and she has sections in her work relating to the Holocaust, personal identity, variations in ritual procedures with regard to the Tahara, the people who participate, what it is really like (how to dress), difficult taharas, medical complications, quotes from others (many others), and her entire approach is comprehensible, interesting, and very easily understandable. I now have an understanding of what happens to the body after death, and it is immensely comforting.How wondrous is God! And how wondrous his people! --Chana, the Curious Jew Blog