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THE CHEVRA KADISHA NEEDS
YOUR HELP!!
One of the greatest mitzvot that
we as Jews can perform is to be part of the Chevra Kadisha: the Jewish burial
society. It is considered a great mitzvah because attending to the burial
needs of the deceased is one of the finest acts we can do for them without
expecting anything from them in return. That is unless you take into
consideration the beautiful feeling one has after performing this mitzvah.
Two facets of the Chevra Kadish
are the Tahara and the shomrim. Both of which take place at
the funeral home.
The tahara is the ritual washing
and dressing of the body, followed by placing it in the coffin. Men take
care of the male deceased and women the female deceased. Taharas usually involve
four people and take about an hour.
The Shomrim are the people who
sit with the coffin "guarding" it and recite tehillim (psalms).
There are no gender restrictions for a shomer with respect to the gender of the
deceased. The shomrim are scheduled from the time the tahara is completed until
one hour before the funeral.
The two of us are members of the
Chevra Kadisha. Part of our duties are to arrange for women to perform a
woman's tahara (Mark Notis arranges this for men in our community), and to
schedule both men and women to be shomrim.
We
have a need for more volunteers for shomrim to fill in other time shifts.
Most shifts are 1, 2 or 3 hours, and scheduling can be flexible. Those
individuals in our community who participate in this mitzvah, including
ourselves, find this duty to be a truly rewarding experience on several counts,
the most important of which is the respect that it offers our departed.
If you can help us by being a
shomer or by performing taharas, and/or have any questions, please contact us.
Our home phone number is (610) 398-1938.
Shalom,
Elaine Rappaport-Bass and Joseph
Bass.
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