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Pre-Purchasing a Burial Plot

Please Note: The Sydney Chevra Kadisha do not sell burial plots. All burial plots need to be purchased via the cemetery of your choice (see the Cemeteries menu item above for contact details).

Pre-purchasing a burial plot is a way for you to make important decisions and arrangements yourself, saving your family the emotional burden.

All purchases are transacted via the cemetery. Please contact the cemetery directly to enquire about a burial plot.

Once a decision is made to purchase a burial plot within a Jewish consecrated grounds, the cemetery will contact the Sydney Chevra Kadisha to approve the purchase.

In order to approve the purchase, the Sydney Chevra Kadisha will need to verify whether the person purchasing the plot is Jewish. To assist the Sydney Chevra Kadisha with the approval process, please complete the two forms below, and return them back to the Sydney Chevra Kadisha;

1) Confirmation of Being Jewish Form
(Form For Approval to Purchase a Plot Within a Jewish Consecrated Ground)

2) Information Reservation Form
(Form Required for Purchasing or Reserving a Plot) (PDF version)

The Sydney Chevra Kadisha will then liaise with you and the cemetery.

Cemetery Plot Charges – Guide for Cemeteries Burial Plot Charges

Procedure following a death

What to do in case of a death?

Call the doctor of the deceased to organise a Medical Cause of Death Certificate.
If the deceased passed away in a nursing home and a doctor is not available to issue the Medical Cause of Death Certificate, a Registered Nurse can issue a Life Extinction Form. This will allow the Chevra Kadisha to transfer the deceased to their premises, however, a doctor’s Medical Cause of Death Certificate will still be required to be arranged before the burial can take place.
In the case of a death requiring the Coroner (i.e. sudden death, death after/during an operation or if a doctor is unavailable) please print out and sign the Objection to Post-Mortem form found below and Email or FAX to the NSW coroner or give the form to the Police.
Objection to Post-Mortem form
When the Medical Cause of Death Certificate is ready please call and notify the Sydney Chevra Kadisha immediately on 9363-2248 – 24 hours a day 7 days of the week .
If it is a shabbat or high holiday, please follow the answering machine prompts. You will be redirect to a non Jewish Funeral Home working on the Chevra Kadisha’s behalf, who will organise the transportation of the deceased to the Chevra Kadisha premises. At the Chevra Kadisha premises there is a Shomer (watchman) organised. The Chevra Kadisha will contact you at the end of Shabbat or High Holiday to make the funeral arrangements.
At the funeral arrangement meeting you will be asked various questions. In order to ensure the meeting is productive please complete the Funeral Plan Form to the best of your ability (or print and complete the PDF version of the form) and bring it to the meeting.

Hospital and Nursing Home Guide – For Patients of the Jewish Faith

For Hospitals and Nursing Homes

This guide has been developed in order to assist hospitals and nursing homes with terminal or deceased patients of the Jewish Faith. Click on the link below.

Hospital and Nursing Home Guide – For Patients of the Jewish Faith

Why Bury? Misconceptions about Cremation

Since the very beginning of the Jewish people thousands of years ago, although many options were available, Jews have always insisted on burial.

Jewish law (“Halachah”) is unequivocal that the dead must be buried in the earth.

Clink on the links below to access the resources outlining the need for a Jewish Burial.

Why Bury (by Doron Kornbluth)

Burial versus cremation (by Rabbi David Freedman)

Burial, cremation and the environment (by Doron Kornbluth)

Misconceptions about Cremation (by Doron Kornbluth)

End Cremations (Video by the NASCK)

Stone Masons

Glossary of Terms

Aninut	First stage of mourning – the period between the death and the funeral
Chessed shel emet	a true act of kindness (literally, truth) – a particularly special mitzvah
Chevra Kadisha	holy brotherhood society
Cohenim	Cohens, the priestly class
(K)El Maleh Rachamim	memorial prayer
Goses	a dying person in his/her final moments
Halacha	Jewish law
Hesped	eulogy
Kaddish, Mourners’ Kaddish	special prayer repeated by mourners
Kria	ritual tearing of clothes to show a sign of morning and loss of loved one
Kvurah	burial
Levaiyah	lit, accompanying the deceased – refers to the funeral
Matzevah, hakamat matzevah	lit, the raising of the headstone – refers to the consecration
Minyan	group of 10 Jewish men (over 13 years old) necessary to conduct a prayer service
Mitzvah	good deed
Onen	mourner during the aninut period
Pikuach nefesh	the saving of a life
Seudat Havra’ah	condolence meal
Shabbat	the Sabbath
Shechinah	Divine Presence
Shiva	1st stage of mourning, which lasts seven days
Shloshim	2nd stage of mourning from end of shiva to the morning of 30th day following the burial
Shmira	Watching over the body, from the time of death until the burial
Shomer, shomrim	watcher/s who ensure the deceased is never left alone
Tachrichim	plain white shrouds used to dress the deceased
Tahara	ritual cleansing of the body, performed by the Chevra Kadisha
Tallit	men’s prayer shawl
Tzedakah	charity and righteousness combine in the giving of money to help others
Tzitzit	strands of thread used when praying, tied to the tallit’s edge
Tzur	stone, rock, sometimes used to refer to G-d
Yahrzeit	anniversary of a death
Yom Tov	Jewish holiday
Yud-Bet Chodesh	the 12 months or final stage of mourning from the burial

Note: The modern (Sephardi) Hebrew pronunciation is shown here.