Mourning
What I’ve Learned About Life Preparing Jewish Bodies For Death
My years guarding Jewish bodies and preparing them for burial, attending funerals and making shiva calls have taught me a lot about Jewish life.
Where Are The Orthodox, After Pittsburgh? We’re Right Here, Mourning With You.
I sense a frustration here, among progressives seeking emotional responses from the Orthodox — and I want to address it.
Why Do Jews Have Gravestones?
We should know that the righteous do not require a monument to be remembered — but they should have one nevertheless.
I Don’t Believe In Prayer — Yet I Say ‘Yizkor’ Every Year
Yizkor is more than yarzheit candles and kaddish — it’s an exercise in active memory.
Anthony Bourdain’s Favorite Jewish Deli Pays Tribute: His Breakfast Order And An Empty Chair
Nova Scotia lox and egg scramble. A toasted poppyseed bagel. A pot of black coffee and a glass of orange juice.
The Prayer For My Mother That Made Me A Better Man
When I prayed for a year for my mother — three times a day, in synagogue — I learned how to change my life.
Why I Hate Hanukkah
The Festival of Lights only reminded her of darkness — until she learned to live with her grief about the death in her family.
When A Shiva Is Cut Short
The Jewish period of mourning, shiva, is typically one week long — unless it overlaps with a Jewish holiday. What were the rabbis thinking?
Remembering My Mentor Elie Wiesel On His First Yahrzeit
The best way to remember our teacher is to study Jewish texts, as he loved to do.
What Judaism Teaches Us About Grief And Loss
As Jews, we do not need to create new ways of grieving; we need to look no further than our own traditions in order to learn how to grieve.
