CHAPTER SEVEN - Death and Mourning: End of Life Questions

A: BACKGROUND

1. Introduction

It is time to examine the final part of life’s journey and to face the question of death. Throughout this treatment of the Jewish life cycle, the life-affirming nature of the Jewish world-view has been stressed continually.

Even in death, that outlook expresses itself clearly; in its relationship to death, Judaism will remain life-affirming. Death in Judaism relates as much – or even more – to the living, as it does to the recently departed.

Learning about attitudes to death will not only round out this examination of the life cycle: it will complement and underline those ideas and lessons already encountered.

Together with birth and marriage, death forms the third of the triumvirate of “great Jewish life cycle moments” that together – and separately – represent the quintessential litmus test of Jewish life values. It would be surprising indeed, if the Jews and Judaism had not created a great tradition of thought and ritual concerning death.

There is a great deal to be said about Jews and death:

• Firstly, thousands of years of great minds concentrating on one of the world’s greatest mysteries should have produced a great deal of insightful thinking.
• In addition, at many times in history, Jews have suffered death for no reason, other than holding onto their faith and identity (and sometimes, not even for that). This, in itself, must have produced enormous meditation regarding the meaning of the act of death inflicted upon them.

The issue of death has spawned an enormous number of ceremonies, rituals and attitudes, as it must do within every self-conscious culture. In order to do justice to the intricate network of traditions, laws and values, a good deal of time is needed to “decode” them and seek out their meaning, looking, as always, for the underlying ideas.

At the end of this section, as in each of the preceding chapters, is a text section and an activities section, in which there are a number of different educational activities. The activities, as usual, will reflect the text of the main section itself, following and exploring the various themes and ideas.