Facilitating Mavett Shalom: Reform Judaism at the End-of-Life and After Death in Westchester County, New York
Date
2022
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Producer
Director
Performer
Choreographer
Costume Designer
Music
Videographer
Lighting Designer
Set Designer
Crew Member
Funder
Rehearsal Director
Concert Coordinator
Advisor
Moderator
Panelist
Alternative Title
Department
Haverford College. Department of Anthropology
Type
Thesis
Original Format
Running Time
File Format
Place of Publication
Date Span
Copyright Date
Award
Language
eng
Note
Table of Contents
Terms of Use
Rights Holder
Access Restrictions
Tri-College users only
Terms of Use
Tripod URL
Identifier
Abstract
Many people turn to religion when they are forced to face the realities of death and dying. Even individuals who have maintained a casual or agnostic relationship with religion throughout their lives may participate in this phenomenon and turn to religious authority and community at these times. The current study aims to better understand the reasons why Reform Jews in Westchester County, New York may take advantage of explicitly Jewish resources as they approach their own deaths or cope with the loss of a loved one. Through in-depth, semi-structured, ethnographic interviews conducted with rabbis and social workers, this project provides perspective into the important ways that religious affiliation can facilitate more meaningful and less stressful deaths and mourning processes. By providing community, direction, and identity, Reform Judaism is able to operate in a simultaneously complementary and contradictory way to the hegemonic death practices common in the United States of America, providing what the medical model of death does not.