Death and Mourning

Outstretched hand reaching toward clouds

After Escaping with My Life, I Have More Questions Than Ever about Death

Paula Kaplan-Reiss

March 2, 2020

I wonder: Do souls see and remember? Are they aware of what goes on among the living? Do they have feelings? Are they close with God? Do they only see and connect with people they love? Does this connection last for eternity?

Death and Mourning

What Are Yom Kippur Yizkor Prayers?

Rabbi Richard S. Sarason, Ph.D.

Rabbi Dr. Richard Sarason answers, What Are Yom Kippur Yizkor Prayers?

Death and Mourning

Why You Should Have a Funeral

Rabbi Audrey Korotkin

In Judaism, I believe, everyone ought to have a funeral – not only for themselves, but also for those they leave behind. Sometimes it’s because they think they don’t deserve it. Perhaps there have been difficulties in their family relationships that they regret, or they simply are overly humble about anyone caring about them at their advanced age.

Yom Kippur

When do you light yizkor (memorial) candles on Yom Kippur? Do you light candles only for immediate family members?

Rabbi Julie Zupan

Rabbi Julie Zupan answers - When do you light yizkor (memorial) candles on Yom Kippur? Do you light candles only for immediate family members?

Hand of a young women holding the hand of a young woman as if in a hospital

Death and Mourning

Last Words and So Much Love: Saying Goodbye to My Mother

Paula Kaplan-Reiss

November 6, 2019

She had tended me during my bad feelings. I had held her hand during hers. Her gift of language comforted me until the very end, even without being able to hear her voice. And now, I am left with memories.