Join Jason Lindo and Rabbi Deni Deutsch Marshall for a workshop on traditional Jewish burial practices. Learn how these practices not only honor the deceased and help guide the soul on its journey, but are also at the forefront of the most ecological approach to burial.    

The goal of the workshop is to help congregants make decisions for their own burials, as well as to engage the community in considering joining those who participate in the Jewish ritual process between death and burial. 

The Rabbis considered the preparing of a body for burial the highest mitzvah a person can perform because it is the only mitzvah where the person performing the mitzvah cannot possibly expect thanks from the person receiving it. Since the 1700s, the mitzvah of preparing our Jewish dead for burial has been the responsibility of the Chevra Kadisha, the Holy Society.

Jason Lindo is both a participant in the Sacramento Chevra Kadisha, and one of its board members. Jason will talk about the history of the Chevra Kadisha in Jewish communities, including its long history in Sacramento. Jason will also detail the process, step by step, of caring for the body at the time of death, the ritual preparation of the body (met in Hebrew) from the time of death until burial, and the participation of the burial society. The step-by-step descriptions will include the washing of the body, the act of tahara (the ritual pouring of water over the body), the tachrichim (the dressing of the body in a shroud), the placing of the body into the casket, and the traditional practice of carrying the body to the grave and of burial.

Rabbi Deni Deutsch Marshall, will present on Shmirah, the practice of guarding the body after it’s preparation by the Chevra Kadisha until the time of the funeral. She will also present on the newest and most ecological approach to burial, called green burial, and how it reflects traditional Jewish burial, as well as how and where this movement is growing in the Jewish community.

There will be time after the presentation to ask questions and engage in discussion, and Jason will be available for one-on-one discussions with any member of the congregation who would like further information on joining our local Chevra Kadisha.

Please join us for this important, though often overlooked, ritual of Jewish life. The entire community is welcome to attend in-person or via zoom.

Meeting ID: 871 1742 1431
Passcode: CBI