Preparing for the Final Journey: The Taharah Ritual and its Significance

Date: Jun 21, 2021 - Jun 21, 2021

Time: 2:00 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.

Sponsor: Online Learning

Location: Online

Category: Online Learning


Preparing for the Final Journey: The Taharah Ritual and its Significance

Part of our summer learning series, “A Wandering People: Jewish Journeys, Real and Imagined”

June 21, 2021, 2:00–3:30 p.m. ET

The period between death and burial is understood in Jewish tradition as a moment of transition in which the deceased is suspended between this world and the next. Join Rabbi Eliezer Diamond to study the ritual known as Taharah, which prepares the body of the deceased for burial. It will show us that Jewish tradition assumes the continued existence of our individual identities even after death. The Taharah ritual, through word and action, radically transforms our understanding of the body of the deceased as we prepare it for the journey to the next world.

If you have previously registered for another session in this series, your registration admits you to all sessions in the series, and you may attend as many as you’d like. 

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About the Series

As the pandemic surged and forced us into our homes, many of us dreamed with new intensity of being elsewhere. For Jews throughout the ages, the promises and perils of travel have been central to shaping the individual and collective experience. Notions of home and homeland have been redefined by Jewish wandering. Drawing on literary, spiritual, and historical sources and responses, JTS scholars will explore what happens when Jews—whether by force or voluntarily, whether in reality or in the imagination—travel from one place to another. View all sessions in the series

Note: The Zoom link for this session will be in the confirmation email that you will receive after you register.