The Chevra Kadisha offers education for the general community through periodic newsletters, informational classes and this website, under the auspices of the Caren Hirschfield Outreach Division.
What Is A Tahara?
During one’s lifetime, the human body is the receptacle in which the Almighty places the soul. The physical body thereby becomes sanctified through this combination. This sanctity remains even after the soul departs from the body at the time of death. Therefore, care and respect must be accorded the remains as it is prepared and escorted to its final abode on earth.
Throughout the ages, Jewish communities have established “societies” whose sole function was the care of the deceased from the time of death until interment. The primary concern is the ritual purification and the dressing in traditional shrouds, leading up to interment in the ground. This process is called Tahara and is a time-honored ritual of preparing the deceased in accordance with Jewish tradition.
The Jewish Sacred Society – Chevra Kadisha of South Florida – is an organization of men and women who perform these acts of lovingkindness with reverence and dignity and maintain the highest standards of Jewish law and tradition. These members participate voluntarily in this “Chesed Shel Emes” (genuine kindness).
The tone and some ideas expressed in the following articles may not represent the views of this organization. Nevertheless, they raise important issues of interest for every Chevra Kadisha.
