It is not easy for any of us to discuss death, much less to plan for it. But we can learn about this, as about so many other matters, from the Torah. At the end of the Book of Genesis, we read about the deaths of both Jacob and his son Joseph.
Jacob’s death is especially instructive because of the words he uses to describe what is about to befall him. He does not say, “I am going to die.” Rather, he explains, Ani ne’esaf el ami, “I am going to be gathered to my people.” He asks that he be buried with his people, and Joseph gets Pharaoh’s permission to inter his father’s remains in the family plot, in the Cave of Makhpelah.
Throughout our history, we Jews have always tried to be buried with our people. During Biblical times, family sepulchers were the norm, but in the post-Biblical era, Jewish communities set up and operated cemeteries. A cemetery was known as beit olam, “the house of eternity,” or beit khayyim, “the house of life.” The Talmud tells us of the regard in which graveyards were held: “The Jewish tombstones are fairer than royal palaces.”
Jewish worship does not require a synagogue, but Jewish burial does require a Jewish cemetery. As a result, the first act that Jews have typically done to establish a community has been to set up a cemetery. In what was to become the United States, the first Jewish cemetery was laid out in New Amsterdam (later New York) in 1656, and the first Jewish cemetery in New England was established in Newport, Rhode Island, in 1677.
In order to perform proper burials, a Jewish community would organize a chevra kadishah, “burial society” (although the term literally means “holy society”). Jewish law traditionally required that burial not be a profit making enterprise, but was to be an obligation of the community as a whole. The chevra kadishah took on that obligation. Although we have moved away from these strict legal requirements over the years, the tradition of communal involvement with cemeteries remains strong.
Here at Temple Etz Chaim, we have an opportunity to plan for our own community cemetery. On Sunday, October 19, at 3:00 pm at the Temple Building, we will host leaders from the Jewish Cemetery Association of Massachusetts (JCAM). JCAM, a non-profit organization, was formed thirty years ago to take care of many Jewish cemeteries throughout the state. It operates the newest one, Beit Olam East, a beautiful spot located in Wayland and serving the communities west and south of Boston.
We have an opportunity to have a Temple Etz Chaim section in Beit Olam East. It will be open to any members of our Temple community, both Jewish and non-Jewish. The members of JCAM will be on hand to discuss this and to answer any questions you might have.
Wherever you may be in the process of thinking about this – including not having done so at all – it would help you to at-tend and learn what the Beit Olam East option might mean for you and for the Temple. Please contact David and Susan Hirshfield, who are organizing the meeting, at field0402@gmail.com by October 15 to let them know if you will attend.
Jacob lived for one hundred forty seven years, full of all the variety that life can bestow. And at the end, with the wisdom he had acquired, he knew that it was time to join his people. May all of us live long and happy lives, and may we be as prepared for our deaths as Jacob was for his.
– Rabbi Thomas M. Alpert