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Death & Mourning

While Judaism places great emphasis on our lives in this world, death is an inevitable end for all of us. Often Jews who have been distant from traditional Jewish practice for their whole lives seek the comfort of traditional Judaism in the face of death. For mourners, whose lives are often turned upside down by death, the traditional practices of mourning can provide structure and comfort.

A Conversation With One in Mourning

Rabbi Deborah Glanzberg-Krainin, Ph.D. interviewed her friend and colleague Rabbi Vivie Mayer about ritual mourning following her father’s death. [more]

Found In: Mourning & Bereavement

Making Connections in Life's Final Moments

It is an incredible and humbling privilege to sit with people who are dying.  [more]

Found In: Preparing for Death

Tags: vidui

Community Center

Though random acts of kindness are amazingly inspiring, they leave me wondering whether we can harness this random energy into more sustainable acts of kindness. [more]

Found In: Death & Mourning, Healing & Hard Times

Further Reflections on Closing an Apartment/Home After the Death of a Parent(s)

I first suggested a ritual for how we might use Jewish symbols and traditions when faced with closing up the home of a deceased parent shortly after the death of my mother in April 2001. [more]

Found In: Death & Mourning

Egg-sodus & The Circle of Life

Including eggs in your seder meal to remind us of the circle of life, and that endings often mark beginnings. [more]

Found In: On the Seder Table, Funeral & Burial, Tisha b'Av & Minor Fast Days

A Beard-Shaving Ritual at the Conclusion of Shloshim

Focusing one's attention on the wildness of death reflected on the face of the mourner. [more]

Found In: Mourning & Bereavement

Tags: shloshim

Eyl Malei Rachamim for the Six Million (translation)

A fresh translation of the Eyl Malei Rachamim to remember the six million Jews who perished in the Holocaust [more]

Found In: Mourning & Bereavement, Holocaust Remembrance Day

Tags: el maley rakhamim

Death is in the Details

In the Jewish tradition we have prayers to mark many phases of the grieving process.  We find comfort when we recite El Maley Rachamim at the funeral, kaddish throughout the mourning period, and yizkor prayers at key moments throughout the year.   [more]

Found In: Death & Mourning

When Will I Be Myself Again

A poem for shiva seeking comfort after a difficult loss [more]

Found In: Mourning & Bereavement

Tags: shiva, shloshim, yizkor