Mourn
Death and Mourning: Sources from the Babylonian Talmud
On attending to mourners, anticipating dying, accepting death, and appropriate burial rites.
Living Persons and Organ Donation
Sometimes there is a conflict between the mandate to save lives and the mandate to avoid health risks.
Jewish Views on Organ Donation
Jewish views on organ donation are overridden by a single halakhic (legal) concept: pikuach nefesh—the Jewish obligation to save lives.
Ultra-Orthodoxy and Organ Donation
After learning the results of an experiment involving a decapitated sheep, Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Auerbach decided to permit organ donations.
Themes in Death and Mourning
Though traditional sources on the laws of mourning are quite detailed and specific, an acquaintance with this legal literature reveals a number of overarching themes and principles.
A Yizkor prayer for stillborn and infant deaths
A contemporary rabbi offers a prayer to be recited throughout the year by parents who have suffered neonatal loss.
Death and Special Issues of the Body
An overview of autopsy, organ donation, and cremation in Jewish tradition and practice.
Social Action Aspects of Death and Mourning
Giving charity, time, and effort is a traditional and significant way of honoring the memory of one who has died.
Jewish Attitudes Toward Death
A brief summary of traditional Jewish views of death--including its tragedy and its inevitability.