Since inception, the organization has buried about two thousand meisei mitzvah— those who leave no family or money to ensure a Jewish burial
It’s only when you hear Rabbi Mayer Berger talk of the more than 600 taharos that Chesed Shel Emes, a large Brooklyn Chevra Kaddisha, has performed since Purim, that coronavirus’s enormity hits home.
Providing kevurah after tragedies including homicides across New York, Florida and beyond for more than two decades means that the organization is no stranger to tragedy, but COVID-19 is something Rabbi Berger describes as “heartrending.”
“We’re seeing ninety percent of taharos in Brooklyn,” he says quietly. “I would never have dreamed of doing 200 taharos in a month. It used to be rare to see a young person being niftar, but that’s what this virus is doing. So many of the people are leaving behind a young family.”
But if there’s one thing that Chesed Shel Emes volunteers try to do, it’s not to become desensitized to the human suffering despite the large numbers. “The niftarim had lives, they left yesomim, family, sometimes parents,” says Rabbi Berger. “We hate to count numbers, because that removes the value of people’s lives, but unfortunately at a time like this we have to.”
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