The Forward

After tweaking rituals during the pandemic, a Jewish burial society in Pittsburgh has made amends

PITTSBURGH (Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle via JTA) — Tahara, the act of washing and purifying the deceased, is paramount to Jewish burial. So when the pandemic descended on the United States in March ...
WRBL

Dust to Dust: How Jewish burial traditions in Columbus have changed due to COVID-19

The COVID-19 crisis has caused long-held traditions to change, even those held deeply and faithfully across multiple generations. While other religious organizations have been able to transition ...
Yahoo

At a Jewish burial near Kyiv, a Ukrainian rabbi condemns Putin's claim of 'denazification'

BARAKHTY, Ukraine — He was a quiet man who attended temple regularly, Rabbi Moshe Azman told NBC News last week as he stood next to Zoreslav Zamojskij’s coffin. “I don’t understand why they killed ...
The Jewish Exponent

‘It’s an Obligation’: Efforts Ongoing to Institutionalize Dignified Burial, Cemetery Restoration

A simple, traditional Jewish funeral costs about $7,500-8,500, according to Joseph Levine & Sons Funeral Home partner Brian Levine. That’s with a plain, wooden casket and no limousines, flowers or ...
The Forward

Is Ruth Bader Ginsburg having a Jewish burial? Here’s what we know so far.

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s private funeral service in the Supreme Court on Wednesday was presided over by Rabbi Lauren Holtzblatt of Adas Israel Congregation in Washington, D.C. “Justice Ginsburg, ...
Sun Sentinel

Citing failure to meet Jewish veterans’ burial needs, Moskowitz seeks improvement from federal agency

Moskowitz, a Broward/Palm Beach county Democrat, was joined by U.S. Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, a Miami-Dade/Collier county Republican, in citing three issues — wait times, the length of time allowed for ...
Jewish Telegraphic Agency

Jewish burial societies face difficult choices as deaths from coronavirus mount

At stake is not just the health of chevra kadisha members, many of whom are older, but the sacred commandment to honor the dead. (JTA) — Sometime in March, the Chesed Shel Emes Jewish burial society ...
Jewish Journal

This Organization Prepares Jewish Bodies for Burial During COVID-19

At the height of the COVID-19 crisis in New York, Mordechai Meisels, a volunteer for the Jewish burial nonprofit Chesed Shel Emes, was receiving phone calls every few minutes that another person had ...
New York Magazine

‘Cared for, for Eternal Life’: Jewish Burial in the Age of COVID-19

Dignity for the dead for members of the Jewish community is something Chesed Shel Emes, a grassroots network of volunteers, has worked toward since the 1980s. No matter the obstacle, they never say ...
Jewish Telegraphic Agency

EU gives $1.1 million toward preserving Jewish burial sites

The funding will help three Jewish groups survey at least 3,000 cemeteries by 2021, those organizations said. (JTA) — The European Union has allocated $1.1 million toward mapping and preserving Jewish ...
The Times of Israel on MSN

The world’s oldest Jewish cemetery is getting an upgrade. Not everyone is at peace with it

Plans for a major visitor center at the Mount of Olives in East Jerusalem promise education and security, but opponents say ...