Chevra Kadisha, the Burial (or Holy) Society of the congregation, is an ancient practice as significant today as it was thousands of years ago. The Chevra Kadisha comprises five women and five men who are on call 24 hours a day to care for the body of the deceased, executing tahara (purification) with sensitive care, modesty, and dignity. Performing these rites, in strict accordance with Jewish laws and traditions of burial is a great honor and an especially great mitzvah.
Members of the Society are selected for their character, integrity, and personal devotion to Jewish tradition. Men care for men, women care for women, Jew cares for fellow Jew. There is no better way to ensure the dignity of the body than to entrust its preparation to the Chevra Kadisha.
An introduction to Jewish Burial Customs:
What happens to the soul (neshama) after death should make all the difference in your burial decisions. When a person dies, the neshama hovers around the body, and is the essence of the person; the consciousness, thoughts, deeds, experiences, and relationships - that individual's totality. The body was its container, while it lasted, and the neshama, now on the way to the Eternal World, refuses to leave until the body is buried. In effect, the totality of the person who died continues to exist in the vicinity of the body. A Jewish funeral is therefore most concerned with the feelings of the deceased, not only the emotions of the mourners. How we treat the body and behave around it must reflect how we would act around the very person himself/herself at this crucial moment.
