by Rabbi Mel Glazer, z"l

Even the strongest among us can get stuck in the grief process, unable to heal and move forward. Now Rabbi Mel Glazer — a highly regarded and experienced grief-recovery counselor — gives comforting form to a crucial insight: That the messages of the Old Testament are a source of hope for even the most grieving among us. Drawing directly from the key books of the Old Testament, Glazer marshals, in a completely nondenominational way, their most profound, age-old themes to the very hard work of moving through and beyond grief — and into a life of hope and fulfillment. Among the themes and early Biblical stories Glazer uses as his jumping-off point to explore the process of grief recovery are: Bargaining (from Jonah), shock and anger (from Leviticus), fear (from Exodus), wandering (from Numbers), faith and strength (from Job), foregiveness (from Genesis), joy (from Proverbs), growth (from Psalms), legacy (from Deuteronomy), creating a new family (from Ruth), grief without death (from Song of Songs), and tragedy (from Lamentations).

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  by Rabbi Stuart Kelman and Dan Fendel

Taharah practices have deep historical roots. Beginning in Mishnaic times, specific procedures and customs evolved in various locations and through many generations. As a result, numerous traditions exist today. This booklet is one link in the chain of our Jewish tradition. Chesed Shel Emet: The Truest Act of Kindness details the ritual of preparing a body for burial. Our new edition adds a liturgical understanding of the prayers that are said while performing a taharah . This booklet is an essential resource for any existing Chevra Kadisha or for a community interested in forming one.

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  by Rabbi Avivah Erlick and Richard A. Light

For centuries, Jews have prepared their dead for burial using a ritual known as taharah, which means purification. Drawn from sacred texts and Jewish theology, this rite is traditionally conducted according to time-tested procedures, by a trained team called a chevrah kadisha.  Today, however, families are asking their rabbis and hospice chaplains to improvise new rituals based upon this ancient one. They may want to perform the ritual themselves, for example; to insert original elements; or to confront Jewish law and perform it for a loved one who will be cremated, or who is not Jewish.  Discussion of these issues has led to the question: How much modification can be allowed? At what point is the ritual no longer a Jewish purification, and by what standard? What bare-bones elements make taharah unique, and satisfy its requirements? What can be allowed, and what is forbidden?  This is the inquiry that the authors, a hospice chaplain and an experienced chevrah kadisha leader, set about to explore.

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  by by Ellie Barbarash CPEA, Dan Doernberg, Elayne Kornblatt Phillips RN,PhD, Michael Rein MD, David Zinner, Darla Knight Low RN,BSN

Health and Safety Precautions for Taharah provides a layperson’s overview of potential health risks and injuries related to the sacred task of washing and dressing the meit/ah (the deceased). The authors include health, occupational safety, and Jewish professionals with over 100 year of experience doing Taharot and working to prevent the spread of infectious diseases. Their recommendations are grounded in public health, workplace safety, and a commitment to respecting Jewish ritual.

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  by Richard A. Light

This book won a 2016 Nautilus Book Award.  It is considered a powerful and beautiful presentation of the sensitive and respectful way Jews handle death.  It shares the feelings of what holy work is like.  In Jewish Rites of Death, Rick Light presents both a practical, informative guide to these practices and a compendium in which local volunteers who bring the blessings of these traditions to both the deceased and the bereaved write of the immeasurable enhancement their own lives have gained from them as well. As the personal stories of author and his contributors make clear, the prayers, the physical actions in preparing the dead for burial, and the intentions of the heart involved in Jewish death rituals open a unique window on the fine line a soul passes over between this world and the next.  In its deepest sense, this book offers basic and eternal truths on what it really means to be human.

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  by Rabbi Stuart Kelman and Dan Fendel with Rabbi Jason Weiner

Too often, those who attend Jewish funerals, both as mourners and comforters, are not fully familiar with our traditions, practices and prayers. This booklet provides guidance and insight, resulting in greater understanding, familiarity and awareness. Included in the booklet are explanations of burial, funeral, and shiva rituals, as well as Hebrew prayers and texts, with translations and transliterations.

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