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Mourning & Bereavement

people embrace in tears

Traditional Jewish mourning and bereavement practices are designed to help us bear our grief. But sometimes we need something more: a poem that captures our imagination, a creative ritual that addresses the particularity of our grief, a song that speaks to our heart. May you find a measure of comfort in your time of need.

Latest Rituals

“May his/her dreams / be fulfilled / in every one of our breaths…”
two people sit on a dock looking out over a lake
“The death of a sibling too is unique. It ignites our own vivid / sense of mortality.”
two brothers, one a child and one a toddler, hold hands and walk by a pond
“In the ruins of the towers / we walked through daily / you would have found letters…” and added them up to find meaning
Hebrew letters in a book, covered by a menorah with a star of david shining down
This ritual is an opportunity for someone to meaningfully mark a threshold when they reach or pass the age at which someone who was important in their life died.
a black and white photo
The Reconstructionist version of the Mourner’s Kaddish.
A hand holding a siddur opened to the Kaddish
“Count instead the growing number of cared-fors you have lost…”
a black and white photo
“Now, your breath is within me. / And Kaddish is like a love letter.” 
a collage with the words of the Kaddish and pastel watercolors
“May the Shekhinah drive you home in her taxi…”
a heart shape created from pages of an open book
Elliott batTzedek shares an original interpretation of the Kaddish.
two hands reaching to the heavens
Rabbi Marina Yergin shares a new ritual for mourning.
Rabbi Yergin leans against her father.

The Reconstructionist Network

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Curating original, Jewish rituals, and convening Jewish creatives

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Jewish practices provide us with valuable frameworks to foster awareness and joy through gratitude.

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The Reconstructionist Network