Jewish Funeral Traditions

Gail Rubin, Certified Thanatologist and The Doyenne of Death, presents an hour-long talk on Jewish Funeral Traditions and Superstitions. The presentation took place at the Greater Albuquerque Jewish Community Center’s annual A Taste of Honey educational event. Jewish traditions related to death, funerals and mourning are rarely taught in Hebrew School. In this show-and-tell class, we look at items used for funerals and discussed the historical, practical and ritual reasons for each. Items included burial shrouds (tachrichim), the keriah ribbon, a shivah candle, a water pitcher and more.