Participation in a voluntary burial society (ḥevra kadisha), for men and for women, was considered a great honor and an act of ultimate generosity. The 1780 image on the left from the Prague burial society shows the creation of the simple burial shroud traditionally used to dress the body of the deceased. Women participated fully in this ritual. They had their own burial societies and were just as attentive to the female dead as men would be toward the male dead. Yet, we can see that there is a clear gendered distinction in their specific roles in creating the burial shroud along with a depiction of an older woman guiding a younger one in the task of sewing.
What can we learn about the importance of preparing bodies for burial in historical Jewish communities from these images?
How might the male and female roles depicted in the sewing the shrouds image reinforce distinct gender roles within communities of Jewish practice?
If your community had a ḥevra kadisha, would you be inclined to volunteer for the role?
Eighteenth-century German amulet printed with unique designs. The use of the names of the three angels, Sanoi, Sansanoi, and Smangalaf, indicates the use of this amulet as a birth protection for…
Shepherds had dug a well in the field
but herds of others encircled it.
They left, roaming the mountain trails,
the shepherds who had dug it.
Oh, oh, oh! Desert oases . . .
the lanes of the herd…
The Jewish Cemetery at Ouderkerk is one of Jacob van Ruisdael’s better-known works. Purchased for use by the Spanish and Portuguese Jewish congregation in Amsterdam in 1641, the cemetery holds twenty…