Chesed Shel Emes
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Chesed Shel Emes ( he, חסד של אמת, ; meaning "Charity of Truth" or "True
Loving Kindness ( he, חֶסֶד, also Romanized: ) is a Hebrew word that means 'kindness or love between people', specifically of the devotional piety of people towards God as well as of love or mercy of God towards humanity. It is frequently used in Psalms i ...
") is a Jewish voluntary organisation that is found in various forms around the world.


Israel

In Israel, the primary Chesed Shel Emes is known as
ZAKA ZAKA ( he, זק"א, abbreviation for ''Zihuy Korbanot Ason'', , literally: "Disaster Victim Identification") is a series of voluntary community emergency response teams in Israel, each operating in a police district (two in the Central Distr ...
, though other organizations exist.


Canada

Chesed Shel Emes of Canada was established in 1930 as a non-profit organization with a mandate to prepare members of the Jewish community for burial according to Orthodox tradition. Each person is treated with the same consideration and respect. No one is refused service due to financial hardship. Chesed Shel Emes is an independent, community-based organization. Men and women are chosen and trained as volunteer members of the
chevra kadisha The term ''Chevra kadisha'' (Modern Hebrew: חֶבְרָה קַדִּישָׁא) gained its modern sense of "burial society" in the nineteenth century. It is an organization of Jewish men and women who see to it that the bodies of deceased Je ...
(holy society). Their purpose is to dutifully and lovingly prepare the dead for burial.


United States

Chesed Shel Emes of New York was founded by Rabbi Mendel Rosenberg. The group provides numerous after-death services, including a ritually flawless Orthodox burial that incorporates a taharah (ritual purification), tachrich (ritual graveclothes), and interment in a handmade coffin of soft wood. It negotiates with hospitals as necessary to remove lines and tubes from the deceased and obtain timely release of remains, and has successfully negotiated with courts of applicable venue and jurisdiction to halt halakhically forbidden autopsies. The group's services are sometimes required for more unusual needs, such as a tahara in Puerto Rico or chartering a private jet to transport a dead person from out of town. Their Accident Disaster Recovery Team, who worked together with
FEMA The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is an agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS), initially created under President Jimmy Carter by Presidential Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1978 and implemented by two Ex ...
in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, has cleaned hundreds of accident scenes, ensuring that all blood and any severed body parts are buried together with the person who died. To date, the New York organization has buried over 1200 m’sei mitzvah, i.e.: people who have no one else to bury them. Additionally, they operate a Bikur Cholim in several area hospitals and have a group of volunteers available to learn
mishnah The Mishnah or the Mishna (; he, מִשְׁנָה, "study by repetition", from the verb ''shanah'' , or "to study and review", also "secondary") is the first major written collection of the Jewish oral traditions which is known as the Oral Tor ...
for the dead. Similar organizations exist across the US, for example in Boston, Los Angeles, St. Paul, Detroit, Baltimore, Washington DC, and Seattle. They also exist in 17 countries.


See also

*
ZAKA ZAKA ( he, זק"א, abbreviation for ''Zihuy Korbanot Ason'', , literally: "Disaster Victim Identification") is a series of voluntary community emergency response teams in Israel, each operating in a police district (two in the Central Distr ...


References

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External links


Chesed Shel Emes - USAReb Meir Hersh Berger of Chesed Shel Emes shares incredible storiesChesed Shel Emes - Greater Washington DC area
Jewish organizations Bereavement in Judaism Jewish organizations established in 1930