''Shemira'' ( he, שמירה, lit. "watching" or "guarding") refers to the
Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
religious ritual of watching over the body of a deceased person from the time of death until
burial
Burial, also known as interment or inhumation, is a method of final disposition whereby a dead body is placed into the ground, sometimes with objects. This is usually accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing the deceased and objec ...
. A male guardian is called a ''
shomer
In Jewish religious law (''halacha''), a shomer ( he, שומר, pl. , shomrim) is a Jewish legal guardian entrusted with the custody and care of another's object.
The laws of ''shomrim'' (pl. "keepers"; "watchmen") are derived from the Torah i ...
'' (), and a female guardian is a ''shomeret'' (). ''Shomrim'' (plural, ) are people who perform ''shemira''. In
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
, ''shemira'' refers to all forms of guard duty, including military guard duty. An armed man or woman appointed to patrol a grounds or campus for security purposes would be called a ''shomer'' or ''shomeret''.
History
Historically, ''shemira'' was a form of guard duty, to prevent the desecration of a body prior to burial. The body guards, "guardians of the dead," perform a thankless task—literally.
[Raphael, Dr. Simcha Paull (1994). ''Jewish Views of the Afterlife''. Jason Aaronson, Inc., pp. 415-416.] In the Talmud, in b. Berachot 18a and Shabbat 151b, the purpose of ''shemira'' was to guard against rodents, as rodents fear the living and not the dead, an idea derived from Genesis 9:2 which puts the fear of man into other living creatures.
[Babylonian Talmud: Berakoth 18]
/ref>
/ref> ''Shemira'' is practiced out of respect for the dead, in that they should not be abandoned prior to their arrival in their new "home" in the ground. This serves as a comfort for the surviving loved ones as well.
Burial is intended to take place in as short an interval of time after death as possible. Displaying of the body prior to burial does not take place.midrash
''Midrash'' (;["midrash"]
''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. he, מִדְרָשׁ; ...
ic tradition, while as Rabbi Mordechai Levine a student of HaRav HaGaon Rabbi Chaim Pinchas Scheinberg zt"l points out, the burial will have taken place as soon as possible and generally within a day or two, the soul hovers over the body for either three days (''Genesis Rabbah'' 100:7 and ''Leviticus Rabbah'' 18:1) or seven days - the period of shiva - mourning (''Pirke de Rabbi Eliezer'', chapter 34) after death.[Raphael, Simcha Paull (2009). ''Jewish Views of the Afterlife'' (Second ed.). Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc., p. 140.] The human soul is somewhat lost and confused between death and before burial, and it stays in the general vicinity of the body, until the body is interred. The ''shomrim'' sit and read aloud comforting psalms during the time that they are watching the body.[Goodman, Rabbi Arnold M. ''A Plain Pine Box: A Return to Simple Jewish Funerals and Eternal Traditions'', KTAV Publishing House, Inc., pp. 65–68.] This serves as a comfort for both the spirit of the departed who is in transition, and the ''shomer'' or ''shomeret''. Traditionally, ''shomrim'' read Psalms or the Book of Job.[Ginsberg, Joanna (November 20, 2008).]
A mitzva for the dead, a comfort for the living
. ''New Jersey Jewish News''.
Performing ''shemira'' is considered a ''mitzvah
In its primary meaning, the Hebrew word (; he, מִצְוָה, ''mīṣvā'' , plural ''mīṣvōt'' ; "commandment") refers to a commandment commanded by God to be performed as a religious duty. Jewish law () in large part consists of discus ...
''. The Shulhan Aruch (Yoreh Deah 341:6) explains that one who is guarding the body is exempt from all other mitzvot. ''Shomrim'' are allowed to be paid, as this ''mitzvah'' is not benefiting from the dead, but helping to relieve the burden of the relatives whose duty it is to guard the body.[Freehof, Solomon Bennett (1976). ''Reform Jewish Practice and Its Rabbinic Background''. KTAV Publishing House, p. 107.] In some communities individuals are paid to do this, while in others it is done on a volunteer basis, often by friends of the family of the deceased or members of a ''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 ...
'', Jewish burial society. It is not necessary for the ''shomrim'' to be literally watching the body. The body may be covered or in a closed casket already, but there should be someone present in the room at all times. In some cases this may extend to the next room, provided that the door to the room of the deceased is open. Other traditions consider it acceptable as long as someone is present in the building.
See also
* Bereavement in Judaism
References
{{Reflist
External links
Jewish Funerals: Shemira
Jewish law and rituals