Since the early 1900s when my great-grandfather Henry Benjamin joined a Toronto Chevra Kadisha, my family has served the burial and mourning needs of Toronto's Jewish community.

Since the early 1900s when my great-grandfather Henry Benjamin joined a Toronto Chevra Kadisha, my family has served the burial and mourning needs of Toronto's Jewish community.

We are often asked to give talks explaining our tradition to community organizations, school and synagogue students, as well as to students in the funeral director program at Humber College. The Benjamin Institute is committed to preserving community traditions by sharing information on Jewish death and mourning ritual. We hope this website will make it easier for people interested in this information to access it.

We also hope it will offer some comfort to those of you who are grieving. We have included some articles on coping with loss. Know, too, that over the course of the next year, our Jewish mourning rituals will help sustain you.

Do you remember the story of how G-d chose the Jewish people as his own? He went to other peoples first, and said, "follow these commandments." Each group asked, "why, what do they mean?" So G-d continued to search. When He came to the Jews, and said, "follow these rituals," they did, thinking, "we will do and then we will understand." And through practicing the sacred commandments, G-d's purpose became clear.

Through doing, comes understanding. From our family's many years comforting the bereaved, we can truly say that Jewish mourning ritual will hold you up, when you are overwhelmed and don't know how to go on. Then, bit by bit, over the next year, you will find the ability to stand on your own.

Let me know what you think of this site, and if there are any other topics you would like to see covered.


Marc Benjamin
Executive Director
The Benjamin Institute