Death in the Jewish Tradition

Throughout the ages, the Jewish people have developed customs, rituals and observances to guide us and provide comfort when a loved one dies. Moment Senior Editor Francie Weinman Schwartz, coauthor of The Jewish Moral Virtues with Eugene B. Borowitz, has prepared this compendium to help you make decisions in advance and know what to do when the time comes. Due to safety concerns brought about by the current public health crisis, we’ve also included new traditions to consider.

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Zooming in on Jewish Practice After COVID-19

Fighting the mortal danger of COVID-19 might have posed an existential threat to the life of the Jewish people, were it not for the digital revolution. To fight the pandemic, Jews like everyone else have had to stay away from one another. But in God’s name Moses instructed the Israelites to assemble, to build a tabernacle in the wilderness to worship the God they had encountered. Following that precedent, as we have journeyed through the centuries of exile, oppression and periods of startling creativity, we have assembled, called our synagogues eydot, assemblies, of peace, of justice, of Israelites, of hope. There we have gathered to observe family rites: circumcisions, b’nei mitzvah, weddings, funerals; to pray; to observe the Sabbath, the festivals, the Days of Awe; to study and learn together; to laugh; to sing.  Suddenly a...

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50 Years Later: Remembering Kent State

Stanley, who is a participant in Moment’s Jewish Political Voices Project, had planned on attending the 50th-anniversary observances on the Kent State campus. All her friends would be there; she booked a hotel reservation a year in advance. But Covid-19 ended all that. A nation on the edge 50 years ago is facing upheaval of a different order.

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Anti-Semitism Spreads Among Anti-Lockdown Protestors

There have also been several other reports of swastikas and Nazi references in protests across the country, most of them aimed at Democratic governors who have refused to ease the lockdown guidelines until their states see a significant decline in coronavirus spread.

Is it a case of ignorance or of anti-Semitism?

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