One of my favorite days is today.
Pesach Sheni – literally ‘Second Pesach’. The quick story about this day is: A year after the Exodus, G-d instructed the people of Israel to bring the Passover offering on the afternoon of the fourteenth of Nissan, and to eat it that evening, roasted over the fire, together with matzah and bitter herbs, as they had done the previous year just before they left Egypt. “There were, however, certain persons who had become ritually impure through contact with a dead body, and could not, therefore, prepare the Passover offering on that day. They approached Moses and Aaron . . . and they said: ‘. . . Why should we be deprived, and not be able to present G-d’s offering in its time, amongst the children of Israel?’” (Numbers 9:6–7). In response to their plea, G-d established the 14th of Iyar as a day for the “Second Passover” (Pesach Sheni) for anyone who was unable to bring the offering on its appointed time in the previous month. This day is very special to me. Because this day represents the “second chance” achieved by teshuvah, the power of repentance and “return.” In the words of Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak of Lubavitch, “The Second Passover means that it’s never a ‘lost case.’ Our conduct can always be rectified. Even someone who is impure, who was far away and even desired to be so, can still correct himself.” There is no justification for despair. Every individual, no matter what his situation, always has the potential to make a “leap forward” (the literal translation of the Hebrew word pesach) in his service of G-d. As I write these words on Friday afternoon, I am running a bit off schedule as I am coming from a morning funeral. Not a happy event. Yet, the mood was not a depressing one. To me, it seemed like the bereaved sons had a feeling of accomplishment and a sense of relief that they were able to provide their 73-year-old deceased father a true Jewish burial. The vigor and dedication with which the Chevra Kadish, (comprised of the local rabbis and lay community members) carried out their labor of love was outstanding. Hashem provided a clear and very sunny day. In the pastoral and quiet fields of rural Chachoengsao you could hear the birds chirping in the background. The deceased Tzi’s family name is Shinzinger which literally translates to ‘beautiful singer’. That is what the chirping of the birds sounded like to me. Overall, it felt somewhat surreal. As if I could hear the melody and song of a life properly balanced and aligned as things were unfolding in the way they should, in the lifecycle of a Jew. It wasn’t always like that. I cannot forget the first time I was called up to officiate at the funeral of a Jewish woman in 1993 or shortly thereafter. The burial grounds that had been used by Jews living and passing in Thailand was the Protestant cemetery. In perusing the Halachic sources, it was very evident that presiding over a Jewish funeral in a non-dedicated Jewish cemetery was problematic. However, it was clear to me that unlike the communities of yore, in Eastern Europe or even modern-day diaspora, where Jewish burial options exist, here there were not acceptable options. Cremation, which was the only other option, is totally anathema to Judaism and is 100% forbidden according to Jewish law. I gave a speech in English eulogizing the deceased woman. Then I followed up with a short statement in Hebrew. ‘Truthfully, I am not allowed to preside over this funeral as we are interring a Jew into a non-dedicated Jewish cemetery plot. However, the other choice – cremation - is infinitely worse. I pledge beli-neder on behalf of us all, that we will see to get a Jewish cemetery and we will move this deceased to the new Jewish cemetery’. Miraculously, not long after that the adjoining plot of land, separated by a high wall, was discovered to be a possible location for a Jewish cemetery. Through the joint efforts of the pioneering members of our community, Mr. Mike Gerson of blessed memory, Mr. Abi Kashani, Mr. Ron Cristal and Mrs. Myra Borisute and several others (apologies for not naming everyone involved) may they all be health and well, the funds were raised and the cemetery was established. It’s been more than thirty years, and the initial piece of land is almost full. Several years ago, we began a campaign to buy new cemetery land. This was purchased in Chachoengsao, registered as a burial place, and inaugurated and sanctified by the Chevra Kadisha as we did ‘circuits’ around the perimeters of the land. Today’s burial is the third person to be buried in this new cemetery. As I mentioned at each of these three burials, the deceased who are buried in this opening stage are ‘pioneers’ of sorts as they ‘pave the way’ for enabling proper Jewish burial for as long as Jews live in Thailand. Of course, we pray to arrive at the Mashiach stage very soon and not need to bury any more. Once we have arrived at this stage, we can move forward please G-d in the plans to landscape the premises and create an ascetically pleasing, pastoral, serene and quiet final resting place for our loved ones. Why do I sound passionate about a topic so sad and disheartening? Because of its primary importance in Jewish life. This week’s Parsha provides a very clear instruction about our obligation to bury a Jewish person who passes away. Usually, the family would be the ones to lovingly bear that responsibility. In the instance that a Jew passes away without any relatives, and no one to look after interring him. This is referred to as a ‘met mitzvah’ i.e. ‘a deceased whom it is a mitzvah to care for’. Torah law obligates a Kohen Gadol, on Yom Kippur, to leave the "holy of holies" to take care of a met mitzvah(!) This is how important taking care of our dead and burying them properly is. There is a cultural epidemic in the Jewish world today that I want to address. It used to be a given, a default for anyone who was even mildly Jewishly inclined to choose burial as their wishes after death. I was born a Jew, I wish to be buried as a Jew. Whatever journey one may have had in the interim, the final wishes of Jews throughout the thousands of years has always been burial. Whether we were living in Israel, in the Diaspora, whether during times of suffering or times of plenty, the choice has always been Jewish burial. This long held assumption is under assault and challenged in today's climate and that is why I want to talk about it and address it. For some inexplicable reason it has become fashionable to think that cremation has benefits over burial. There are multiple reasons why throughout our history, a traditional Jewish burial was always considered a highest priority. There are many reasons that cremation should be off the table for a Jew. Click here for a full essay on the topic. Let me just add that if one fully grasps and visualizes the process of cremation they would recoil from that choice. In my humble opinion, the real and foremost reason that Jewish burial is under assault, is the economics. Simply the price of carrying out a Jewish burial in many countries is expensive. In Thailand, where cremation is the default and so many options exist, where burial is almost nonexistent it is particularly challenging. Add to this the economic factor. Many of the Jews who move here as elderly people are living on small pensions, often with no family safety net, and when they pass away it seems that the only option within financial reach is cremation G-d forbid. Through the donations of philanthropic Jewish visionaries, our community has been blessed to be able to provide a solution to this option. In our new cemetery, the cost of burial is very affordable as the large tract of land sits in Chachoengsao, a rural area 60-90 minutes’ drive from Bangkok. Most importantly, our community is blessed with some generous friends who see to it that if a Jews passes away and does not have funds, they will donate to the ‘Met Mitzvah fund’ will cover the burial from A-Z. (If you wish to be one of those who participate in this mitzvah please let me know). If burying a fellow Jew is important enough to take the High Priest from his holiest role (in a met mitzvah situation), we must take this mitzvah very seriously and take responsibility to provide proper Jewish burial in the most feasible way possible. Enough said about passing away. We choose LIFE. If this is the way we ought to treat our dead, HOW MUCH MORE SO must we treat our fellow living Jews with love, care and compassion. The mitzvah of helping the dead is called ‘chessed shel emmet’ , a kindness of truth. Do you know why? Because when you help a living person there may be an angle in how you think you will be reimbursed with a favor by the person you are helping. When you help someone who passed away it is a ‘true’ favor as they can no longer repay you. This is the way we ought to do acts of compassion and kindness to others. Without expecting anything in return. Pure kindness and benevolence with no agenda or motive. Look around you and see who you can help. When you rejoice, see who else you can invite to rejoice with you. Even though you are doing it with purity, you will by default be a recipient of the greatest feeling possible. The feeling of partnering with Hashem in spreading chessed kindness to His creations. Shabbat Shalom Rabbi Yosef Kantor
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