CCAR RESPONSA
Contemporary American Reform Responsa
145. Memorial Gifts
QUESTION: The
National Federation of Temple Brotherhoods Board would like to establish a way of honoring
deceased members without seeking separate contributions on each occasion of sorrow. Does our
tradition encourage equality, or should rank and past service be recognized? What precedent
does Jewish tradition provide? (A. Raizman, Pittsburgh, PA)
ANSWER: We should
divide this question into two segments, one dealing with honors due to the deceased, and the
second with memorial gifts. Judaism has, for along time, stressed equal and simple treatment for
all our dead. Rabban Gamliel (Ket. 8b; M. K. 27b), a wealthy Jewish leader of the second
century, specified that he be buried in linen shrouds, and encouraged his disciples to follow that
example. Such simplicity has been basic Jewish practice ever since. Many European
communities carried this matter further and established strict regulations about grave markers to
assure that they were equal in size, and in some communities even the inscription was
scrutinized to avoid excessive elaboration (Maharam Schick, Responsa Yoreh Deah 170;
J. Greenwald, Kol Bo Al Avelut, p. 380). We have continued to follow these customs with
our deceased and try to maintain simple dignity at our funerals and in our
cemeteries.
Gifts made in memory of those who are dead also have a long tradition
behind them. The custom of reading names of the deceased began in the Rhineland during the
Crusades, when lists of martyrs were recited on Yom Kippur, and eventually on the last
day of the festivals. Later names of those deceased who left a gift to the congregation were
added. Still later, this custom spread to the shabbat in the form of a mi sheberakh
recited after the Torah reading. Similar blessings can, of course, be recited for the living
as well as the dead.
Memorial gifts, therefore, became a way of helping maintain the
synagogue and honoring the dead. Naturally, large gifts were encouraged, but we should note
that the mi sheberakh remained the same whether it was accompanied by a large or a
small gift, though at times the specific sums given were announced. A general mood of equality
prevailed in most communities (Or Zaruah II, 21b; J. Zunz, Die Ritus, pp. 8 f; I.
Elbogen, Gottesdienst, pp. 201 ff).
Equality in the maintenance of religious
institutions was emphasized through the ancient Temple tax of one-half or one third sheqel
per person levied upon Jews throughout the ancient world. It was based on Exodus (30.11-
16) and is discussed thoroughly in the Talmudic tractate Sheqalim. After the destruction
of the Temple, this tax was paid directly to Rome as the fiscus Judaicus. This became the
basis for the special Jewish taxes in the Middle Ages.
We may conclude that our
tradition has sought to honor our be loved dead while maintaining a sense of equality. Perhaps
the Brotherhood Board might continue this by providing gifts of books to colleges through the
Jewish Chautauqua Society. The number of volumes might vary according to the means
available, but that information would remain confidential; everyone would simply know that an
appropriate memorial gift had been made. Certainly other means of expressing this thought are
possible.
January 1978
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