Final Arrangements

JUNE 2015 • PAGE 4 JewishCemetery forInterfaith Couples Shaarey Shamayim Cemetery •TraditionalJewishPreparationandBurial •Non-DenominationalServiceforNon-Jews •RabbiorJewishClergyLed •SynagogueandGravesideServicesAvailable •LocatednexttotheShaareyZedekMemorialPark onMainStreetacrossfromKildonanPark Pre-PlanningConsultation 2049753484 estelle@szwinnipeg.ca embRacing the community shaaRey Zedek's inclusiveness extends to cemeteRy By Wendy King For the Free Press T he community of Shaarey Zedek Synagogue has a history of inclusiveness. Interfaith families have long been part of the circle. Gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Jews are welcomed as individuals and as couples. The community celebrates and serves these families in life, and it's able to extend that depth of care into the time of death and burial. "The majority of marriages currently taking place involving Jews also involve non-Jews," says Rabbi Alan Green, who has been with Shaarey Zedek for 15 years. "We felt a very strong need to adapt Jewish tradition, so we formulated a plan to dedicate a portion of our cemetery to interfaith burial," he says. "We want to maximize the possibility of Jewish burial for Jews and to create the possibility for couples to be buried together, because if you are spending your life together, I think you want to be buried together as well." At Shaarey Zedek, non-Jewish members are considered to be fully members and are able to participate in virtually every part of the community life with the exception of some ritual responsibilities. "You are not a 'spousal member,' you are a member and this is your home," says Ian Staniloff, executive director of the synagogue. "We are trying to be even more inclusive and the interfaith cemetery just extends that." Couples who seek this option are not required to be members of Shaarey Zedek. As long as one member of the couple is Jewish, the option to be buried together in Shaarey Shamayim Interfaith Jewish Cemetery (located in the North End of Winnipeg on Armstrong Avenue and Main Street just across from Kildonan Park) is available to them. Shaarey Shamayim is set a little apart, surrounded by a roadway and an iron gate, a symbol of its embrace of the interdenominational families who make up a significant part of the congregation and who contribute to the vibrant perpetuation of Jewish life in their own way. The physical and visual demarcation, as well as a separate entrance, was part of the requirement, made after careful consultation, to ensure that the rest of the cemetery could remain fully consecrated as a Jewish cemetery. The plots must be sold in pairs and one of the couple must be Jewish. For the Jewish partner, preparation of the body takes place at Chesed Shel Emes, a Jewish funeral home. This is followed by a Jewish burial led by a rabbi in the traditional manner. "Body preparation in Judaism is very important and it is considered an honour and a privilege to do this as the last act of kindness for some person," says Staniloff. "You are providing them, in death, your gift to them." For the non-Jewish partner, an outside funeral home has been contracted where the staff have been trained by the Chesed Shel Emes people to follow, as closely as possible, the rituals that are related to body preparation. All other aspects of the funeral ceremony are non- denominational and presided over by a rabbi. "We do what I would consider to be a very universal kind of funeral service," says Rabbi Green. "There are certain things that are missing that would be part of a Jewish funeral ceremony, but it's very, very nice and the families and the friends deeply appreciate it. "Unless you knew about Jewish services, it wouldn't stand out in any particular way." When an interfaith couple wants to make this kind of arrangement, they simply call the synagogue. Staniloff says the cemetery is, to his knowledge, the only one of its kind. The cemetery provides a unique form of welcome which, says Rabbi Green, is precisely its intent. He says that although he has only done a couple of interfaith funerals so far, both families expressed great relief and tremendous gratitude. "The response from our congregation has been overwhelmingly positive," he says. "Cemetery plots are being bought by couples in anticipation of the time of their passing from this earth, and we feel that we have actually performed what we call in Judaism, a 'mitzvah,' a commandment, a good deed, that will benefit the community in the long run." An iron gate sets the interfaith area apart at Shaarey Shamayim Interfaith Jewish Cemetery. Photo by Darcy Finley

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