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Opening Statement

Kavod v’Nichum's mission is to serve any individual or organization seeking to learn and engage around Jewish end-of-life practices and rituals. Kavod v’Nichum has been a leader in providing end-of-life education, support, and training in the Jewish tradition since its founding in 2000. The 2021 Beyond the Count Survey was a call to Jewish communal leaders and organizations to reflect fuller diversity within our communities and recommends supporting Jews of Color (JoC) led initiatives serving Jewish people of color, reflecting the multiracial reality of the Jewish people, prioritizing creating spaces for discourse and dialog among JoC, and promoting further research by and about Jewish people of color.

This research is being conducted and analyzed by Jewish people of color. The data will be used to develop JoC-created resources for Jews seeking end-of-life support, improve access to Jewish end-of-life education and resources, highlight the diversity of experience across the Jewish community, and foster JoC-led research and content that enriches the Jewish community.  Kavod v’Nichum is not aware of a study of this kind being conducted within any part of the Jewish community. This data will lead modern Jewish scholarship on end-of-life practices and rituals, provide an opportunity to re-center this important life cycle moment for individuals, families, and communities, and center the experiences of Jewish people of color.

The research project has two goals:
  1. learn how Jewish people of color engage with Jewish end-of-life rituals and practices including Chevrei Kadisha, funerals, burials, grief, and mourning rituals and what resources are most needed and desired in order to provide comfort and support.
  2. engage JoC clergy, lay leaders, ritualists, poets, liturgists, and artists in creating identified resources for people facing the end of life, for themselves or for a loved one, and for community members supporting family, friends, or community members through an experience of loss.

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