May 11, 2018 | 26 Iyyar 5778

Sanctuary: Serving the Soul

By Fay Lipschultz

Sanctuary: A consecrated, safe or holy place. A place physically and spiritually of protection, shelter and retreat. An oasis.

As a longtime Beth Emet member, I can think of many experiences connected with the synagogue that evoke these words. The opportunities I've been blessed to sing in the Beth Emet choir, to daven on Sunday mornings in our weekday minyan and work as a member of the Inclusion, Tzedakah and FIAT committees, have all contributed to my evolving relationship with sanctuary.

My connection to this experience is most deeply felt, however, through my involvement in our Chevra Kadisha, founded 13 years ago at the suggestion of Rabbi Peter Knobel. Beth Emet is a part of the Progressive Chevra Kadisha (PCK) a volunteer inter-congregational society dedicated to conducting the ritual of taharah in preparation for Jewish burial. The PCK is run by volunteers to serve the needs of members and their families. When someone dies, PCK members visit the funeral home -- at a family's request -- and prepare the body of the deceased according to centuries old customs. PCK members wash the body ( rechitza),  perform a ritual cleansing ( taharah ) and dress the deceased in a set of simple white garments ( tachrichim)  for burial. The PCK performs this service anonymously as an ultimate act of lovingkindness ( g'milut chesed)  to honor the dead and comfort the living who remember them. The deceased's family is never aware of the people who performed their loved one's taharah.

While I have had the honor to perform several taharot , the connection to sanctuary struck me very profoundly recently as I was performing taharah for a woman that I knew. As I participated in the rituals, I chose to hold her hand and stroke her hair and forehead. I instantly felt a very deep and loving connection, mixed with a sense of profound gratitude for having known her and profound honor for being able to assist her in her passage. I often feel what I believe to be the presence of the deceased's soul in the room as I perform taharah, and it is one of the most spiritually powerful experiences I have ever known.

To be surrounded by a small group of women committed to this one singular act of lovingkindness truly creates for me, and the deceased, a sanctuary. A holy place and experience of love, respect, honor and comfort.

Fay Lipschultz , with the exception of a few interruptions, has been a part of Beth Emet for over six decades. At Beth Emet, she has been a member of the board, the Progressive Chevra Kadisha, the Inclusion, Tzedakah and FIAT Committees, sings with the choir, and logs whatever time she can at the soup kitchen. She currently manages a two-office dental practice, after having spent several years as a health care consultant, attempting to help physicians and health care systems improve their delivery of health care services. She is thrilled with any opportunity to study Jewishly with Beth Emet members and Klei Kodesh, The Center for Jewish Mindfulness at Orot, Kavod V'Nichum, Talmud study with Rabbi Michael Balinsky, and spiritual practice development with the Institute for Jewish Spirituality, to name a few.

If you’d like to share your thoughts with the congregation on what sanctuary means to you - a time in which you felt like a sanctuary dwelled within you, or how we can extend sanctuary to those who need it, feel free to reach out to Ellen Blum Barish and David Barish . 

In Exodus 25:8, God says to Moses, “Create for me a sanctuary, and I will dwell among them.” These words set the building of the Tabernacle into motion. But the verse’s ending has an interesting grammatical anomaly. Instead of telling the Israelites to create a sanctuary so God can dwell within it, the wording suggests that the dwelling may be amon g the people, or within them, suggesting that God can live within us rather than exclusively in a physical sanctuary. This year at Beth Emet we’ll explore the multiples meanings of sanctuary—as physical space to gather as a community for prayer, as spiritual space where we feel safe and whole, and as an attitude that is welcoming and accepting of everyone.

This weekly e-mail project, curated by David and Ellen Barish, allows congregants to express themselves in any of a variety of media: speechmaking, poetry, essay, story, photography, film, paint, sculpture, printmaking, textile, sound or music. If you'd like to contribute, please email Ellen and/or David .

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Beth Emet The Free Synagogue

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 Evanston, IL 60202

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