What is Chevra Kadisha?

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A Continuum of Care

First mentioned in tractate, Sotah, in the Talmud (circa 200 BCE – 500 CE) and documented as far back as the mid-16th century in Prague, the Chevra Kadisha provided a continuum of care to the dying, the deceased, and the mourners.

Nineteen murals from the Burial Society of Prague, painted in the late 1700’s, show this continuum beginning with bikkur cholim (visiting and praying with the sick person), sewing the tachrichim (burial garments), building the aron (coffin), performing the taharah (ritual purification of the body), digging the kever (grave), the funeral procession and hesped (eulogy), and mourning after the burial.

Modern Day Chevra Kadisha

Over the past century, North American Jewish communities and many Chevra Kadisha moved from participating in the full range of traditional Jewish practices and limited the role of the Chevra Kadisha to preparing bodies for burial. This change may have stemmed from Western culture’s avoidance of death and preference for relying on specialists. This, coupled with the lack of education in Jewish traditions relating to dying, death, and mourning has led to many chevrot focusing on the sacred rituals of shmirah (watching over the deceased) and taharah (ritual purification and preparation of the deceased for burial).

Since the 1960s, there has been a resurgence of interest in North American Jewish communities the beautiful and profound Jewish rituals around death. Today, Chevrot Kadisha are being restored to their central role in Jewish communities, and many new Chevrot Kadisha have been established throughout North America in the past 50 years, and their role and tasks have grown to include providing support and care at the end of life and during the mourning period, from bikkur cholim through the yahrzeit (anniversary of a death).

Chevra Kadisha members often work in teams for the ritual of taharah. Teams arrive together, prepare physically by preparing the items they need and the personal protective garments they will wear, and prepare spiritually often by taking a moment together before (and after) they perform the ritual. Men generally perform taharah for a man and women for a woman; the members of the team can be modified as desired by the deceased or the family.

In many communities, Chevra Kadisha members are volunteers, offering their time and care for these rituals as a holy gift and service to their communities.