Death & Mourning
Our Hesed committee provides our members with a network of support through life’s most challenging moments. In our daily prayer service, during times of illness we collectively pray for members and their extended family by name.
When our office has been notified of an illness, our clergy routinely visit those who are hospitalized or home bound.
When a situation becomes bleak, and doctors or hospice workers indicate that the end of life may be near, members of the clergy are often asked to come to the bedside to offer the Final Prayers, known as The Vidui’i. This is a sacred moment that is often shared by family members who gather by the bedside with the clergy.
Visiting the Sick
Bikur Cholim, visiting the sick, can include such activities as: visiting patients in a hospital, rehabilitation center, or nursing home; visiting people who are restricted to their homes; transporting those who are ill or impaired on errands or field trips; providing telephone contact and reassurance to those who are ill or homebound.
The act of Bikur Cholim is a mitzvah, a moral and spiritual obligation incumbent upon all Jews to perform. Bikur Cholim is an essential quality of good inter-personal relationships. It reflects the primary Biblical value “And you shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Leviticus 19:18). By fulfilling this role, we deeply enrich both our lives and the lives of those we visit.
Our Hesed committee reaches out out to congregants who are ill, recently hospitalized or given birth, have recently experienced the loss of a loved one, or feel disconnected from the community. This support continues until the recipient no longer needs the services. If you know of anyone who would benefit from receiving Bikur Cholim services, please contact the Main Office or Rabbi Hamilton.
Funeral
If a loved one passes, please call the main office at 617-277-9155 or email us. We will work with you to write a notice and send it to the entire community.
Rabbi Hamilton or Rabbi Bonney-Cohen will quickly schedule a meeting with your family, first to offer comfort and second to help guide you through the rituals.
KI will provide the shiva books and notify the community of the times of the shiva. Most, if not all nights of shiva, one of our clergy will be there to conduct the service, if you so request.
Mourning
Parents, spouses, brothers, and sisters all have the ritual obligation of saying Kaddish for one month. Children are obligated to say Kaddish for their parents for 11 months minus one day.
The KI Community is here for you in sadness and celebration. Please know that our community will do all we can to make meeting life’s challenges easier.
KI is proud to offer the only daily egalitarian minyan in the metropolitan Boston area and we welcome you to join that community as you fulfil the rituals surrounding mourning. We currently hold virtual minyan at 7:00AM and 7:00PM on Zoom, with daily Mincha at 12:20PM.