According to the family of the deceased, six sisters were prohibited from walking alongside the body of their father at the levaya as the chevra kadisha told them it is simply not permitted. When one of the daughters of the niftar wanted to read a eulogy but the chevra prohibited it. A member of the chevra offered to read the hesped, but the daughter refused, feeling due to the personal nature of her words, such a move would be inappropriate.
The women were pained and angered, and decided to sue the chevra kadisha for gender discrimination.
The chevra representative explained the organization is responsible to give people a Jewish funeral and safeguard the traditions that are part of the process. In addition, the chevra accused the women of “riding the media wave” by shouting discrimination against women by frum Jews.
Beersheva Small Claims Court Justice Amit Cohen ruled in favor of the sisters against the chevra kadisha, awarding them the sum of 31,900 NIS plus 1,000 NIS court expenses. He felt that the testimony of the bereaved family showed their genuine deep pain and sorrow and he did not support the actions of the chevra kadisha.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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7 Responses
you get what you pay for.
does something like this exist in america?
In general the Chevros Kadisha in E”Y have bad reputations as far as how they treat families of niftarim. (E.g. the way Americans are treated by the C”K’s on Har Hazeitim and Har Hamenuchot all the time).
It seems they are all about the business of burying the dead, and the aveilim are irrelevant.
Especially when they are women.
Congratulations to the Beersheva court for taking action.!
Where is the chevra kadisha’s sensitivity at a time like this?
Good decision, woman are allowed give eulogies, those that feel they shouldn’t should remember the difference between halacha and chumrah. Also going to people of a different religious level and arguing with them during a funereal is beyond wrong.
In America, one chooses a Chevra kadisha, and it is part of your community, and it follows your minhagim. In Israel, one has a civil service Chevra kadisha, that couldn’t care less since they have no kesher with the community they serve, and are responsible only to the politicians whose patronage they enjoy.
Very soon this monopoly of Chevra Kadisha will end and a larger can of worms will emerge. Women are allowed to escort their niftarim to final resting and these CK men should get used to it…
Another step toward shmad. Even if the halacha allows females to maspid and escort niftarim, the scourge of feminism makes it necessary to be machmir. I have nothing against females’ sensitivities but Hashem’s sensitivities come first.