Related Blog Posts on Death and Mourning

Words of Remembrance for Sue Klau

Rabbi Rick Jacobs
What a joy it was to know and work closely with Sue Klau z"l who passed from this world Thursday morning. For every one of her 89 years, Sue was a bundle of creativity, commitment, and love. Along with her late, beloved husband, Jimmy, they were generous with their time, care, and resources toward every single part of our global Reform Movement.

Chevrah Kadisha: Showing Love Until the Very End

Kate Bigam Kaput
Judaism teaches that livayat ha’met, accompanying the dead to their final resting place, is one of the holiest of all the mitzvot because the person for whom it is performed cannot repay the favor.

Remembering Rabbi Dow Marmur z”l

Rabbi Rick Jacobs
We have lost one of the G'dolay ha'dor, one of the rabbinic giants of our time. Rabbi Dow Marmur's life reflected the triumphs and tragedy of 20th Century Jewish life, beginning in Poland on the eve of the Shoah to his last days in the State of Israel. He was truly brilliant, incisive, and witty, with unshakable integrity.

Mourning Ruth Bader Ginsburg: The Jewish Perspective

Rabbi Rick Jacobs
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death on Rosh HaShanah has triggered a tidal wave of grief. That she left us at the start of the new year has brought to mind the Jewish belief that righteous souls die on Jewish holy days.

How One Synagogue Honored Loved Ones Lost – and Found Community Anew

Chaim Harrison

Throughout the course of 12 years, Temple Shalom in Succasunna, N.J., experienced a number of hardships, ranging from financial difficulties to a decline in membership. As it turned out, though, the thing that would inspire this community to thrive once again was, well, the very community itself.