Chesed Shel Emet…. A True and Loving Kindness

Chesed Shel Emet….
A True and Loving Kindness

New Montefiore Cemetery
(in front of the main office for maps & supplies)
1180 Wellwood Avenue
West Babylon, NY 11704
(for Beth Moses & New Montefiore plots)

What to Bring: A Respectful Heart

Perform the mitzvah of Kavod HaMet – honoring the deceased by cleaning and caring for their gravestones (one week before the communal visit to synagogue graves). Whether you have family members in either cemetery or not, this is an opportunity to connect with our heritage and community.

All are welcome to participate in this meaningful tradition, inspired by Mitch Albom’s story of Nico in the Little Liar….

….Lazarre gets down on his knees and removes a rag from his pocket.
He has a small canteen of water, and he wets the rag and begins
wiping the tombstone. “Nano, why are you doing that? Nico asks.
“Out of respect for your great-grandfather and great-grandmother.”
“Can I help?”
Lazarre rips off a piece of the rag. Nico takes it and squats before
the stone. Fannie squats next to him, and Sebastian does, too. Soon
|all four are wiping dirt from the markers.
“This,” Lazarre says, softly, “is what we call chesed shel emet. A true
and loving kindness. You know what a true and loving kindness is?
Eh? Children? Look at me.”
They stop their wiping.
“When you do something for someone that can never be repaid. Like
cleaning the graves of the dead. That is a true and loving kindness.”
He lowers his voice. “It’s easy to be nice when you get something in
return. It’s harder when nobody knows the good you are doing except
yourself.” ….The Little Liar, p. 33

Registration Required by 9/26