Jewish memorial chapel seeks alternate methods for shiva during COVID
With the coronavirus pandemic preventing people from gathering in groups, funeral homes have had to adjust so families can still receive the full attention they need at safe a distance.
Hebrew Memorial Chapel, a nonprofit organization established in Oak Park in 1916, may be the oldest Jewish funeral home in the community, but it certainly is up to date with technology and virtual assistance.
Hebrew Memorial Chapel started providing virtual options to families back in March, soon after the virus first appeared in the United States. Otto Dube, the chapel’s managing director for the last 10 years, saw to it that a brand new operating system was set up, including more cameras with clearer images, monitors and web access. This made the transition to live streaming services and hosting virtual meetings much easier to access when the time came.
“Cemetery sites are open areas, and sometimes connection isn’t that great, so we didn’t want technology to fail during a time when people are trying to connect virtually,” he says. “This new system takes care of that totally.”
While there is no way to take away grief from loved ones, Dube wants to make sure families receive all the necessary community support.
When the first stay-home orders came from Lansing, the chapel was allowed a 10-person maximum at graveside services. Today the number has gone up to 36 people with continued graveside services.
According to Dube, who has been in the business for nearly 44 years, the Michigan Board of Rabbis prefers that communities hold graveside services and set up webcams for live streaming funerals. The Hebrew Memorial Chapel provides the necessary technology and links on its website for family and community members to virtually join services.
In Hebrew tradition, funerals happen immediately after someone’s passing, so the family can enter shiva, a seven-day mourning process for the family.
“A big part in Judaism is the care and support after the funeral,” Dube says. “A basic statement within Judaism says we cannot comfort the mourners while they are in front of their grief, meaning that until all funeral needs have been taken care of, it’s only after the fact that they can be comforted.”
As soon as the deceased’s family walks away from the gravesite, they enter the seven-day period for sitting shiva. Mourners sit at home in low chairs, about 12 inches off the ground, to symbolize a lower time in life, while family and community members visit to offer condolences and sometimes food or sweet baskets.
After the seven days, the family rises up and walks out the door to symbolize walking out of shiva and back to the normal world.
“The problem with the current environment is that families are not getting that community support they need,” Dube says. “We are doing different things and working around difficulties to provide the help families need.”
Since March, Hebrew Memorial has come up with some new ways to make this possible. It set up different forms of shiva, including drive-bys, Zoom calls and sign-up sheets to visit the family in small groups. The chapel provides the technology needed for Zoom calls by posting information on its website to dial into the virtual meeting.
Through these outsidethe-box ideas, people from all over the country and even the world have been able to join in and give their condolences to grieving families.
“People have family or friends in Israel that are able to live stream funeral services or join a Zoom call,” Dube says. “We’ve even had a rabbi in Israel give a speech during a funeral service.”
Dube says Hebrew Memorial Chapel plans to continue utilizing live streaming and webcam technology even after a COVID-19 vaccine is in place and society comes back to a sense of normal.