Counting the Omer – Day 49
Counting the Omer – Feeding the Land, not the Landfill
As we reach the end of our Omer counting, we would like to encourage you to consider natural burial as a very personal way to feed the land. Perhaps this is the most meaningful composting you could ever do. Contact cemetery@templebnaiisrael.com or see the Cemetery report from the Annual Meeting below for more information.
NATURAL BURIAL INITIATIVE AT TEMPLE B’NAI ISRAEL
From the Annual Report: We have been working with the City since 2020, and are near completion of a protocol to allow members to choose a natural burial option. This would involve the burial of a non-embalmed, shrouded body in a traditional single burial space, without the use of a wooden casket or a cement vault.
We have set aside an initial range of 10 spaces in our Section B for this purpose, and will expand this area as needed. The price of these lots will be the same as any other in our cemetery, but there will be a somewhat higher charge by the City’s excavation contractor for the services they provide on our behalf.
We are indebted to Cary Mannaberg, who designed and constructed an attractive wooden frame and cross beams to be laid out around an open grave for natural burial. This will provide the extra stability needed for pallbearers at the graveside to help with the lowering of a body. The City is storing the frame and beams at one of their buildings at Riverside Cemetery, to have at hand when needed for their excavation contractor to set up in advance of the graveside service.
As final details are squared away in the next few months, look for announcements regarding the training of interested members in assisting with natural burials at the graveside, as well as an informational brochure about the natural burial option once it is officially available.
Blessing for Day Forty Nine
בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ אֱלֹהֵֽינוּ מֶֽלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם, אֲשֶׁר קִדְּשָֽׁנוּ בְּמִצְוֹתָיו, וְצִוָּֽנוּ עַל סְפִירַת הָעֹֽמֶר.
Baruch atah Adonai Eloheinu melech ha-olam asher kid’shanu b’mitzvotav vitzivanu al s’firat ha-omer.
Blessed are You, Adonai our God, Sovereign of the universe, who makes us holy with mitzvot, and commands us concerning the counting of the Omer.
.הַיּוֹם תִּשְׁעָה וְאַרְבָּעִים יוֹם שֶׁהֵם שִׁבְעָה שָׁבוּעוֹת לָעֹֽמֶר
Hayom tishah v’arbaim yom shehem shivah shavuot la-omer.
Today is forty-nine days, which is seven weeks of the Omer.
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