November 3, 2010: Values Embodied by Our Cemetery, and Our Community

Dear Chevre (Friends):

(Note: these comments constitute the second installment in a series.)

The community and its cemetery are mirrors for each other. It’s not merely that those interred in the cemetery are members of the community. It’s that the structure and composition of the cemetery itself reflects the community’s highest values.

In the case of JCOGS, I like to think that we stand for openness, warmth, and inclusiveness. As a denominationally unaffiliated institution, we aim to provide a home for anyone journeying along a recognized Jewish path. It’s important to acknowledge that Judaism is not monolithic, and never has been. In modernity, of course, Judaism includes Orthodox, Conservative, Reform, Reconstructionist, and other movements, but even in earlier times, the Jewish world embraced widely divergent streams, such as Ashkenazi, Sephardi, and Mizrachi. To speak of “Jewish tradition” is misleading; it is more accurate to speak of “Jewish traditions.” In keeping with this observation, we at JCOGS avoided the labels “traditional” and “non-traditional,” or “Orthodox” and “non-Orthodox,” for the two sections of our cemetery. Instead, we chose neutral, descriptive designations, Chesed (“lovingkindness”) and Emet (“truth”). The names convey equal respect for the traditions of all those included, and they also encapsulate the character of the cemetery—and the community—that we are trying to build here in Stowe.

Chesed and Emet are meant to evoke the fundamental Rabbinic concept of chesed shel emet, literally, “true lovingkindness,” which denotes the noblest type of action to which we may aspire as human beings. Chesed shel emet is a deed of kindness that can never be repaid. Burying the dead constitutes the classic example. Because there can be no expectation attached to the act—a corpse is not even capable of recognition—it is “true” lovingkindness, absolute and everlasting. Chesed shel emet is love proffered not out of obligation, loyalty, or even sentiment, but simply love for love’s sake. By labeling our cemetery with the rubrics Chesed and Emet, we pay homage to the supreme devotion that the responsibility to bury our loved ones demands of us. Moreover, Chesed and Emet call to mind our basic JCOGS values of mutual caring and commitment, despite—or perhaps even because of—our diversity.

Rabbi Brian
rabbi.brian.besser@gmail.com