Jewish Funeral Practices Committee of Greater Washington

<BODY BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" LINK="#000000" VLINK="#000000" ALINK="#000000"> <CENTER><TABLE><TR><TD WIDTH=20% VALIGN="TOP"> <A NAME="top"> <P> <B><a href="http://betmish.org/text/funeral.html">Text-Only Version</a></B> <P> <BIG><B><a href="http://betmish.org/index.html">Home</A></B></BIG> <P> <BIG><B><a href="http://betmish.org/whatsnew.html">What's New</A></B></BIG> <P> <BIG><B><a href="http://betmish.org/calendar.html#July8">Coming Events</A></B></BIG> <P> <BIG><B><a href="http://betmish.org/drashot.html">D'rashot</A></B></BIG> <P> <BIG><B><a href="http://betmish.org/do.html">What We Do</A></B></BIG> <P> <BIG><B><a href="http://betmish.org/who.html">Who We Are</A></B></BIG> <P> <BIG><B><a href="http://betmish.org/contact.html">Contact Us</A></B></BIG> <P> <BIG><B><a href="http://betmish.org/faq.html">Frequently Asked Questions</A></B></BIG> <P> <BIG><B><a href="http://betmish.org/archives.html">Archives</A></B></BIG> <P> <BIG><B><a href="http://betmish.org/links.html">Links</A></B></BIG> <P> <BIG><B><a href="http://betmish.org/member.html">Membership</A></B></BIG> <P> <BIG><B><a href="http://betmish.org/credits.html">Credits</A></B></BIG> <P> <BIG><B><a href="http://betmish.org/addbook.html">Guest book</A></B></BIG> </FONT></TD> <TD ALIGN=CENTER VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="80%> <CENTER>    <table border="0" align="center"> <tr> <td align="center"> <a href="http://betmish.org/index.html" target="_top"><IMG border=0 src="http://betmish.org/images/banner2.gif" align=center height="104" width="512" hspace=5 alt="Bet Mishpachah banner"></a> </td> <td align="left"> <font size="-5"><a href="http://betmish.org/child/descriptions/banner.html">Banner<br>Description</a></font> </td> </tr> <tr> <td align="center"> <p><font size="-1"><i>Washington, DC's Egalitarian Synagogue</i><br> <i>Embracing a Diversity of Sexual and Gender Identities</i></font> </p> <p> <b><font face="Arial"><font size="+1">Rabbi Bob Saks<br> </font></font></b><br> <font face="Arial"><font size="-1"><i>Founded in 1975 by Members of the GLBT Community<font color="white" size="-4"> </font></i></font></font></p> </td> <td align="left"> <font size="-4" color="white"> </font> </td> </tr> </table> </center> <h1 align=center>Jewish Funeral Practices Committee of Greater Washington</H1> <P>The Jewish Funeral Practices Committee came into existence in 1977 to take Jewish funerals out of ordinary commerce and restore them to a sacred and meaningful mitzva performed by congregations and other religious communities. The committee includes more than 45 member congregations, <span lang="Transliterated Hebrew">chavurot</span>, and societies, including the entire spectrum of religious Jewry. It promotes funeral practices that are considered Jewish law for Conservative and Orthodox Jews and which reflect Jewish values regardless of denomination, for Reform, Reconstructionist and independent communities. The committee also helps congregations protect the bereaved from commercial exploitation. The key has been the active participation of congregation members. <P>The JFPCGW has a contract with a local funeral home to provide the professional services for a complete funeral for about $1500, including the coffin and, if desired, its funeral chapels. (Many congregations use their own sanctuaries.) The companies have facilities in Virginia and Maryland. They perform over 250 funerals a year under the terms of our contract. The committee is currently working on a Jewish Code of Conduct for cemeteries. <P>The committee has biennial plenary meetings and seminars. Between those meetings, the committee’s work is done by a 15 member working/steering committee. We encourage you to volunteer to join the steering committee. <P>Bet Mishpachah is a member of the committee and is represented on the steering committee. <P><I>For additional information contact <a href="mailto:JFPC@betmishpachah.org">JFPC@betmishpachah.org</a>.</i></P> </TD></TR></TABLE></CENTER> <P><HR> <p align="center"><FONT face=Arial><small><small><b><a href="do.html">Return to What We Do</a>. <p align="center">For a description of any of the graphics on this page, click on the D next to the graphic. <BR>For more information, contact our office at <a href="mailto:office@betmishpachah.org?SUBJECT=Request for Information from Web Site">office@betmishpachah.org</a><br> Send comments about this site to <a href="mailto:webweaver@betmishpachah.org?SUBJECT=Comments About Web Site">webweaver@betmishpachah.org</a>.<br> Copyright 1996 - 2008 Bet Mishpachah.</b></small></small></FONT> <CENTER><font face=Arial size="-1" color="#999999"><small><small><P><b>This page last modified on Sunday, May 18, 2003 at 07:57 PM EDT.</b></small></small></font> </CENTER> </body>