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As a member of Washington Hebrew Congregation, we are here to support you in your time of need, with guidance and counseling both before and after a loss.
Whether the loss of a loved one is anticipated or comes unexpectedly, quite often, family members feel unprepared in the days following the death. This page will help you obtain a deeper understanding of the Jewish approach to life and death, specifically the customs which have evolved throughout the centuries concerning death, burial rites, and mourning procedures. The practices and traditions found here will help you and your family to make informed decisions about honoring your loved one’s memory. We suggest you read through them and determine as a family which rituals and traditions you will find comforting and helpful at the time of your loss. When the time comes, we will be here to help you and your family through this difficult time period.
After a loved one passes, please call the Temple before making any arrangements so we can assure our clergy are available to be with you and your family in your time of need. We will also connect you with a Jewish funeral home and the Garden of Remembrance (our cemetery in Clarksburg, Maryland) or Memorial Park (our historic cemetery in Southeast D.C.).
Contact: Debbie Heller 202-895-6300 dheller@whctemple.org
In the days following a death, mourners sit shiva. What does that mean for you and your family? What happens when shiva ends?
Some mourners will find WHC’s Judaism and Bereavement: A Guide to Mourning helpful. Washington Hebrew also offers a Bereavement Support Group twice a year to help our members as they grieve.
At any point during the Bereavement Period, if you wish to speak to your Washington Hebrew Congregation Clergy, please make an appointment with us by calling 202-362-7100. Washington Hebrew also offers a Bereavement Support Group to help our members as they grieve.
Our Bereavement Support Group is a twice monthly “drop-in” bereavement support group. Congregants are warmly welcomed to gather in grief, learn about bereavement, and support one another as a community in the wake of a loss. Each group meeting will begin with a selected topic related to grief and mourning. Facilitated by clinical social workers, Erica Berger-Brandt and Rachel Ehrenberg, there is structured teaching and exploration of selected topics and plenty of unstructured time to talk about whatever is happening for participants on that day. Topics range, including but not limited to self-care, tasks of mourning, navigating difficult feelings, honoring our loved one’s memory, holidays and special days, creative expressions of grief, Jewish mourning rituals.
One meeting per month is held at the temple on Macomb Street, and the other is held at the Julia Bindeman Suburban Center (JBSC). Groups take place on Sunday mornings during the school year, and weekdays or evenings during the summer. You are welcome to attend as many of these group meetings as is helpful, as often as twice per month (attending both location meetings) or just when needed or convenient. So that we may plan accordingly, we request that you RSVP for each group meeting. To do so, or for more information, please email Marsha Humphries at mhumphries@whctemple.org or call 202-895-6303.
Washington Hebrew Congregation is grateful for the opportunity to provide support to its members who may be in need during their time of grief. This program is sponsored by the Edlavitch-Tyser Family Relations Forum.
Remember your loved one with a beautiful bronze memorial plaque that bears their name and date of passing. During the week of your loved one’s yahrzeit, we will display their plaque on the Memorial Wall in the Hertzberg Kaddish Lobby at the entrance to Kaufmann Sanctuary. On all other days, it will be enshrined in Gordon Archives Hall.
Each plaque is erected upon receipt of a donation of $2,000. You can make your full donation today or pay a $500 deposit per plaque. The balance is required to be paid within four years.
ORDER A MEMORIAL PLAQUE
The name of this service comes from the act of removing the cloth covering a headstone – unveiling the permanent marker at a loved one’s gravesite. Marking the end of the first year of mourning, the Unveiling Service is relatively new in Jewish tradition. It can be led by one of our rabbis or cantors, or you may choose to conduct the service yourself and use our Service of Unveiling with prayers, poems, and Psalms as a guide.
Even after your official period of mourning comes to an end, you may find comfort attending a Yizkor service at Washington Hebrew Congregation. Held four times during the year — on Yom Kippur and during the festivals of Sukkot, Passover, and Shavuot — the service is an opportunity for our community to come together in prayer, remembrance, and personal reflection.
We come together in prayer and remembrance whenever there is a loss within our community. For those who wish to be notified of recent losses within our Congregation, we have created a Condolence List. Joining the email list will enable us to send you information about those who have passed and will give you an opportunity to reach out with support for your fellow congregants. To add yourself to the list, click here for our form and select “Condolence List.”
