Rites of Passage

Three perspectives on the topic of death from local religious leaders. 

Rabbi Mendel Rivkin

Chabad-Lubavitch of Louisiana

Judaism (and I can only speak for Traditional observant Judaism) views death as a next phase of life. We call a cemetery Beit Hachaim (home for the living) because we don't see death as being the end of a person's life, but rather only the end of a person's physical life. This is so because we believe in a soul that is eternal. Death is merely the stripping away of the external physicality of the body, not the end of the soul.

Scripture says, "Earth you are and to earth you shall return." Jewish tradition has always been that we bury our dead in the earth (or caves). We are also careful to bury as close to the time of death as possible as we believe that the soul's journey into its next phase can only truly happen after the body is taken care of. We maintain a strong sense of dignity for the body of the deceased.

There is a ritual preparation process called a Tahara that includes washing and cleansing as well as dressing in all white linen shrouds. Those in the community that are involved in preparing the dead for burial and the actual burial are called Chevra Kadisha (sacred society). We use only a wooden casket, nothing fancier. These traditions have remained unchanged for thousands of years.

A great emphasis is placed on burial in the earth. Jewish cemeteries in New Orleans are on high ground so they can dig to bury. Cremation is against Jewish law for a number of reasons, including the dignity of the body, as mentioned. It also has an association with some of the worst periods of persecution in our history, such as the Holocaust.

Rituals such as Shiva and Kaddish include a mourning period as well as specific prayers that mourners recite throughout the 11 months following the passing and on each anniversary. We are cautioned against mourning too intensely, as this can cause pain to the soul of the departed. Certainly sadness and grief are natural, but life must go on, at some point, to some extent.

We believe that dedicating good deeds such as charity or study to the soul of the departed has immense value for that soul as they journey on to the next phase. All of these activities and rituals have a twofold purpose. They help the living come to terms with the loss and keep the connection to the departed. They help the soul of the departed through its period of transition into the world of the spirit.

Tata Jimmy,

New Orleans Downtown Consultations

“Let us beware of saying that death is the opposite of life. The living being is only a species of the dead, and a very rare species.” Friedrich Nietzsche, The Gay Science 1882

Imagine two worlds separated by a body of water: the land of the living and the land of spirits. Now imagine being born out of that water and into the suffering of life like the sun at dawn. Picture yourself evolving as a human being as you travel through time and space, reaching your zenith at the hour of noon. Imagine crossing that water once again at dusk, and traveling into the night and the world of spirits where you will again grow as you proceed toward midnight and an eventual rebirth at dawn.

This is Bantu-Kongo cosmology, brought to the Americas during the Middle Passage along with their funeral traditions, musical and dance traditions, their cuisine, their agricultural techniques, etc. that are still so well known in New Orleans. Go to any cemetery in Orleans Parish right now and you will find graves marked with conch shells; this too is Bantu-Kongo cosmology. The seashells connect the departed back to the deep, to “Kalunga,” to the water we must all travel through at the moment of our births and deaths, and ultimately to the world of the spirits. This word “Kalunga” is revealing in its multiple meanings and uses. The ocean or great river…the line between the two worlds…the horizon…the feeling when a thought pops into your head as your stomach turns or the hairs stand up on your arms and neck…all Kalunga, and it brings us to the notion of spirits in general.

The Bakongo recognized four types of spirits: ancestors, wandering ghosts, nature spirits, and a type called “nkisi, minkisi pl.” made by specialists called “Nganga, Banganga pl.” from elements of the first three types. Many people have seen the carved statues covered in nails that became the “voodoo dolls” we all know so well in Hollywood; these are minkisi. Find someone in the Spiritual Church traditions of New Orleans and you will soon encounter the spirit of Black Hawk kept in a bucket of cemetery dirt; this too is nkisi. They are constructed in order to assist the living with specific afflictions and causes of suffering in this life. Through divination, the “Nganga” determines if and when a spiritual malady is present, and then prescribes and administers treatment (oftentimes with the aid of one nkisi or another). All treatments are intended to restore balance for the client when there is a lack thereof, and all of this is done to ensure that we become fully realized human beings, and avoid wandering as a ghost when we cross over. This is the basic idea behind all rites performed with and for the spirits.

To be complete is to live our best lives, and to do it well enough to finally free ourselves from the cycle of death and rebirth with the help of the spirits. To become a cool rock at the bottom of a freshwater stream; may you all achieve happiness and abundance!

The House of Death by William Blake

Reverend Father Victor H. Cohea

Archdiocese of the Roman Catholic Church

In the Roman Catholic tradition, and for most Christians, we recognize death as beginning with the fall of our foreparents, Adam and Eve. Death is the physical consequence of that act. They both had free will, and they both chose to eat the forbidden fruit and therefore they both suffered the consequence, which is death of the body. This is the separating of the spiritual reality, the soul, from the physical body. Death is the fruit, the sting, of original sin.

In the Catholic community, we have very diverse rituals around death. However, the most important thing we all seek and pray for is to be present with the family member who is dying. Many times when that occurs, in my own personal experience, the person who is dying will also greet other deceased relatives of the family who are there to meet them, and sometimes even our Blessed Savior or one of the saints. The family members present will be holding their hand or praying, sometimes quietly crying with a smile, because their mother or brother or sister or dear friend is going home.

With the moment of death comes, in our Catholic faith, with the idea that our Father gives us what we call an immediate recognition and judgement at his throne, where Jesus Christ is our final judge. The chair of St. Peter is where it’s decided whether you’re going to Heaven, to Purgatory, or to Hell. There are some people whose actions are so atrocious that they should go to Hell for tremendous harm they did to other lives. Purgatory is defined as a place of purging of the sinful things you did and did not repent for while living. In the Catholic faith, we pray for the living and the dead because many times the prayers of the living help bring souls forward from Purgatory into Heaven.

There is great diversity in how each cultural group in the Catholic tradition will prepare the body for burial, but usually they will culminate with a mass and formal burial. In the New Orleans area, the priest is almost always there for the funeral and the burial. We then have a reception or repast after the funeral, where people come together and tell stories about the deceased, and make arrangements to keep in contact after the death of a loved one.

When you talk about New Orleans, you’re talking about the Catholic faith. When you look at the history of the city, for the first 150 years, religious life was primarily Roman Catholic. Look at the outstanding saints that have been in this city, such as Mother Henriette deLille, founder of the Sisters Holy Family, or Mother Cabrini, who helped stabilize the immigrant community from Italy. This has been a city of saints, both religious and lay, who have shown us how to be worthy citizens. That is the ground from which the city came out of. Catholic communities have always stressed that no matter how bad the situation is, it can improve over time, provided we work together as one community regardless of race, religious belief, or political ideology. We are all the daughters and sons of God.