(Heb./Aram. Ḥevrah or Havurah Kaddisha, i.e., "Holy Brotherhood" or "Society"). Voluntary group of individuals who look after the needs of the dying and the requirements of the dead. The term originally was used for a general mutual benefit society or for the Jewish community as a whole (and is so used in the Yekum Purkan prayer). In Judaism, burial of the dead is deemed a religious commandment (Mitsvah), one that takes precedence even over the study of Torah. To bury someone who leaves no kin is regarded as particularly meritorious, a duty that supersedes other commandments. The burial of the dead was considered to be a duty devolving on the deceased person's surviving relatives. Burial societies are first mentioned in amoraic times (Ket. 8b, etc) and have been a feature of Jewish communal life ever since. They often number 18 members, as in Hebrew the letters representing the number 18 spell Ḥai, i.e., "life."
The records of some of these societies are available beginning with the 13th-14th century (Western Europe). It was regarded as a special honor to belong to such a society, and members were often recruited from among the wealthiest and most learned men of the community (in 19th-century England, Sir Moses Montefiore assiduously fulfilled his duties as a member of the Ḥevrah Kaddisha). Members of the "Holy Society" also received special communal privileges. The services provided began with special prayers recited at the bedside of the gravely ill; thereafter, they included ritual washing of the body (
The society had a constitution, usually based on the one drawn up in late 16th-century Prague by Judah Löw Ben Bezalel. Women were also active in the Society and saw to the last rites of other women. After a burial, the participating members would go to the ritual bath (Mikveh) and then partake of a meal together. Once a year (on 7 Adar or 15/20 Kislev), the members observed a fast day and recited penitential prayers in atonement for any ritual disrespect of which they might have been guilty toward any of the deceased. After the fast day, all members would hold a feast. A number of these practices are still observed in Orthodox communities.
In 18th-century Lithuania, the community set maximum fees for the services of these societies in order to prevent extortion. Generally, the cemetery belonged to and was controlled by the burial society. In larger communities, an additional society, known as Ḥevrah Ḥesed Shel Emet ("Society of Lovingkindness"), devoted itself to burying deceased persons who had left no kin. The burial society is a major organization today and the fees that it collects fund general communal activity. In Western Sephardi communities, the Ḥevrah Kaddisha members are often known as lavadores (i.e., "those who wash [the body]"). Until recently, in the United States, many organizations of Jews originating from the same part of Eastern Europe (known as landsmanshaften) had their own burial society. In Israel, separate societies are maintained not only by Ashkenazim and Sephardim, but also (in some cases) by Ḥasidim and Mitnaggedim within the Ashkenazi group. In many places today, the work of Ḥevrah Kaddisha members is now remunerated.
.jpeg){kind=small}
