Chevra Kadisha
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A chevra kadisha (חברה קדישא Hebrew: "holy society", acting as a "burial society") is a loosely structured but generally closed organization of Jewish men and women who see to it that the bodies of Jews are prepared for burial according to Halakha (Jewish law) and are protected from desecration, willful or not, until burial. Two of the main requirements are the showing of proper respect for a corpse, and the ritual cleansing of the body and subsequent dressing for burial.
The task of the chevra kadisha is considered a laudable one, as tending to the dead is a favour that the recipient cannot return, making it devoid of ulterior motives. Its work is therefore referred to as a "chesed shel emeth" (a good deed of truth), paraphrased from Genesis 47:29 (where Jacob asks his son Joseph, "do me a 'true' favor" and Joseph promises his father to bury him in the Land of Israel).
At the heart of the society's function is the ritual of tahara, or purification. The body is first thoroughly cleansed of dirt, body fluids and solids, and anything else that may be on the skin, and then it is ritually purified by immersion in, or a continuous flow of, water. Tahara may refer to either the entire process, or to the ritual purification. Once the body is purified, the body is dressed in tachrichim, or shrouds, white garments which are identical for each Jew and which symbolically recall the garments worn by the Kohen Gadol (High Priest). Once the body is dressed, the casket is sealed. When being buried in Israel, however, a casket is not used.
The society may also provide shomrim, or watchers, to guard the body from death until burial (although in some communities this is done by people close to the departed). At one time, the danger of theft of the body was very real, now it has become a way of honoring the deceased.
A specific task for the burial society is tending to the dead who have no immediate next-of-kin. These are termed a "met mitzvah" (a mitzvah corpse), as tending to a met mitzvah overrides virtually any other positive commandment (mitzvot aseh) of Torah law.
Many burial societies hold one or two annual fast days and organise regular study sessions to remain up-to-date with the relevant articles of Jewish law. In addition, most burial societies also support families during the shiv'ah (traditional week of mourning) by arranging prayer services, meals and other facilities.
While burial societies were, in Europe, generally a community function, in America it has become far more common for societies to be organized by each synagogue. However, not every synagogue has such a society.
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