Transcription:
If you go to Pardes Shalom Cemetery, which is the cemetery that we’ve been using for many decades now, you will see not only a cemetery, but a beautiful park. And I’ve seen people jogging there. I’ve seen people taking walks there because it’s beautiful. And I think we have enough ugly condo towers in this city. I think it’s something nice to have green spaces and places where you can reflect on life and you see different people who walk this world and who leave behind memories. And sometimes you meet a family who’s grieving. Visiting a cemetery, even when you don’t know anybody who’s buried there, can be a very positive thing for your life. We actually have a custom of doing that in Judaism before the High Holidays. We go to the cemetery regardless of whether we have family that’s buried there or not, because it’s a place where you can peacefully reflect on life. Many of our rituals are done indoors, but visiting the cemetery is outdoors. It’s meant to put you in touch with nature. I think it’s green and it’s ecological. I don’t think there’s anything that somebody who’s an ecologist or who’s very worried about sustainability, I think they would rather like a Jewish funeral. I will tell you that it’s true that the funeral homes here do sell metal caskets and other non-biodegradable caskets, but it’s your choice. When you go there, if a green burial is important to you, you say it. Tell them. And they won’t sell you their metal one. If you go to Pardes Shalom Cemetery, which is the cemetery that we’ve been using for many decades now, the name actually gets to what the real purpose of a cemetery is. It is not a place for the dead. We do not believe that the cemetery is just a giant old people’s home where our grandmas and grandpas go to sit around and wait for us to visit. The idea of a cemetery is the living go there to be inspired by the lives of good people to help them live better lives themselves. We walk around and sometimes you see the grave of a person who was a doctor and healed many people. You think about the importance of doctors in your life and maybe you want to say an extra thank you to the doctor who took care of you. You see the grave of somebody who was a wonderful sister or somebody who was a wonderful child and you treasure the sisters and children in your life more than you did before. We do that before the High Holidays especially because if you know about the Jewish High Holidays, it’s a time where you take stock of your life and you have to think about your priorities. So there’s no better place to go to to think about the priorities you ought to establish in your life than a cemetery because after we’re gone you learn what matters. I don’t know many people after they’re gone whose gifts of money or goods or material things is valued in the same way as the gifts of love and empowerment and education. Those sorts of non-tangible gifts that they give during their lives are valued. So that’s the wisdom you get before the High Holidays and it’s meant to help you live a better life in the coming year.