Comfort and Dignity: The Healing Power of Jewish Rituals for Death and Mourning
Language: English
Session: Mortality is the only thing that we all have in common. The Jewish ways of dealing with death and mourning reflect our positive approach to life. The set of practices around death, burial, and mourning support the healing of those who mourn and the souls of those who depart.
We will discuss the Jewish guidelines for mourning, which enable us to show respect to ourselves, our families, our community, and to the flow of life. We will examine how the mourning practice allows mourners to face death, move through the experience in meaningful ways, and to then re-enter life in a gradual and supportive manner. By confronting the most difficult aspect of life, we come to understand how the Jewish customs respect and support the dignity of both life and death, while enabling us to live meaningfully and richly even in the face of loss.
Bio: Rebecca Lillian is an interfaith activist, a Reconstructionist rabbi, a history teacher, a writer/editor, and a devoted Limmudnik.