A Plain Pine Box: A Return to Simple Jewish Funerals and Eternal Traditions Book

This book is the story of a group of people, members of Chevra Kevod Hamet (lit. Society to Honor the Dead) of Minneapolis's Adath Jeshurun Congregation, who, in their decision to bury the death simply and "without formaldehyde," demonstrated a willingness to accept responsibility for their own lives. In so doing, they had an impact upon the synagogue, the Jewish community, and the general community. The impetus to return to, and to embrace, traditional Jewish burial and mourning practices demonstrates the ongoing relevance of a ritual system which spans centuries-even millennia. The story of the Chevra is also a story of vested interests, of fear of the unknown, of the role of leadership, and of the use and abuse of the mass media. It is, perhaps most importantly, a statement of how Jewish tradition can be revitalized and made into a force in the life of the contemporary Jew.