Good article on Pittsburgh Chevra Kadisha

[osewalrus]

One of the important things about ritual is they provide a guide and support at a time when we are not able to think clearly. They connect us together, and they connect us with our past.

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/10/pittsburgh-jews-prepare-bury-eleven-killed-gunman/574342/?fbclid=IwAR2G1PSQnC_g6nB68QY76n5bMmRWCG0TNR0DBKUdBrk-gxYmCk6rnd9OMGk

I am a member of our *chevra Kadisha.* I had not even considered the difficulty for Pittsburgh -- which is a small Jewish community -- to field a sufficient number of teams for this shooting. (The problem is aggravated further by the need to have women's teams and men's teams for reasons of modesty. That is to say, to protect the dignity of the deceased. While in theory a single person can do a tahara, you generally want a team of 3 or 4.) I will add from my personal experience that I have found doing the *tahara* for a victim of violence and autopsy extremely disturbing for cultural reasons. We are created in the image of God. The body, while no longer animate, was the receptacle of someone's soul. To see the body desecrated by violence is profoundly disrespectful. When it is someone you know, it can be truly traumatizing.

While anyone other than a *cohen* is permitted to be part of the chevra, it can be difficult to get volunteers. For one thing, it is somewhat physically demanding. Also, many people find it emotionally difficult. My heart goes out to the chevra kadisha of Pittsburgh.  

Comments

[vettecat]

Wow, that's a complication I hadn't considered. Powerful article, thanks for sharing.

[cellio]

I hadn't thought about this either until a call went out for additional volunteers for *sh'mira* (guarding), and then I heard that people were coming in from other cities to help with *taharah*. Nobody actually said "because you don't train people with this as their first one", but... oof.