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All night long, Jewish volunteers remained solemnly in the rain outside the synagogue of the Tree of Life, where there were eleven corpses, sealed with a yellow band of crime scenes. The deceased were not supposed to remain alone, according to Jewish tradition, from the moment of their death until their burial. So when the coroner removed the bodies at 5 pm on Sunday, the volunteers were there to escort them to the morgue.
Earlier in the night, the volunteers had been allowed to briefly look inside. They saw a scene of carnage, with bodies spread everywhere. Once the homicide investigators have given the go-ahead, they intend to meticulously clean up the crime scene. They consider all that remains as sacred remains, to preserve and to bury with the bodies.
Judaism is subject to a strict set of laws governing death: burials are planned at the earliest, autopsies are discouraged, bodies ritually washed and clothed in a white shroud. But balancing respect and complex criminal investigation presents a set of rare challenges for families and religious leaders in mourning. Never before in modern American history have so many people been murdered in a Jewish community.
"That's what we do – the community needs us and we mobilize – but we've never seen anything like it," said Rabbi Daniel Wasserman, head of the Pittsburgh Orthodox Funeral Society, known as name of chevra kadisha. "These are people who were killed because they were Jews, they are bodies of holy martyrs."
Jewish volunteers, led by Rabbi Wasserman, are waiting to enter the synagogue on Tuesday morning to begin ritual cleansing: according to Jewish law, all human remains should be buried with the body. They will wipe the blood with baby wipes, taking care not to leave even a drop behind.
"We would seek all flesh, blood, and organic material to give it honor with the bodies," said Rabbi Wasserman. "It will be one of the most difficult things."
The first funeral, one for two brothers who were killed and another for a leading doctor, are scheduled for Tuesday. The intense grief is likely to be played out in the city's living rooms as hundreds or even thousands of visitors offer their condolences to the homes of the deceased's families during the shiva, the seven-day mourning period following the burial. .
Jews do not cry alone. During Shiva, members of the community visit the relatives of those who died, bringing food and gathering for kaddish, commemorative prayer. They sit down with them, speak with affection of those who have passed, and comfort those who remain. This week, in the very united Jewish community of Pittsburgh, there will be many overlapping shivas.
The rabbis of the three congregations who gathered at the Tree of Life looked for ways to help families find themselves in public and private mourning. People from all over the country phoned people who wanted to visit Shiva, but families may not be eager to greet strangers. At least one family asked for total privacy.
Rabbi Jeffrey Myers, who heads the congregation Tree of Life, pointed to the magnitude of so many deaths during televised talks Monday morning.
"I have a congregation to take care of. I have families who need me, "Rabbi Myers told CNN. "I have funerals to plan."
Since she's been involved in the creation of the new Chevra Kadisha community in Pittsburgh in 2004, Malke Frank has prepared dozens of bodies for the burial. Each time, members begin by reciting a prayer, then ask forgiveness if mistakes are made during the ritual, using the person's Hebrew or Yiddish name to address the body as a sign of respect. They use three buckets of warm water to wash the body, taking care to remove nail polish or anything that is not naturally present. The face of the deceased is constantly covered – if the dead can not see the eyes of the living, the tradition goes away, the living can not see the eyes of the dead.
When the wash is over, they end with a phrase from the Song of Songs, a poem from the Jewish Bible: "You are beautiful, my beloved friend and there is no fault in you."
Ms. Frank said that none of this would have prepared her for what she and others will see when they start tahara, as they are called the washing ritual, for those who have been killed on Saturday.
"We do not doubt it will be the hardest," she said. "It's going to be very, very different because of the extent of the damage done to the bodies."
Dr. Jerry Rabinowitz, victim of Saturday's shootings, was a dedicated volunteer from the new Chevra Kadisha community, working with the same men who would prepare his body for burial on Tuesday.
If this is too difficult to bear, said Ms. Frank, another group of volunteers will intervene. The leaders of a national association of Chevra Kadisha have traveled by plane to comfort them.
Although autopsies are generally avoided in the Jewish tradition, there is no doubt that each body should be examined for evidence in the criminal case. Once the bodies were found with the medical examiner, Mr. Wasserman ensured that a shomer, as the Hebrew guard calls him, was in the building to watch over them throughout the process.
"The idea being that when we die, our soul stays with us until our body is resting and the soul is free to leave," said Sharon Ryave Brody, who runs Ralph Schugar Chapel, a Jewish funeral home. from Pittsburgh. handling services for at least nine gunshot victims. "Meanwhile, this soul is kept company and not alone."
The dead are buried as soon as possible, often the day after the death. But it was clear that it would be impossible after the shoot.
A quick funeral is intended not only to allow grieving people to start crying with the community, but also to honor the dead, said Rabbi Jason Weiner, Director of Spiritual Care at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.
"Death is a transition from this world to another, and that's the way we show basic human dignity, no matter what you've done in life," he said. "It's serving someone when a person can not do anything for herself, when she can not repay it."
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