More people choose to face the notion of their own death squarely and plan for it properly.
There is an increasing interest in so-called "ethical wills," as well as financial wills.
An ethical will often takes the form of a letter or recording from the deceased to his or her loved ones, and outlines the important precepts or life lessons that the deceased wishes to bequeath to the loved ones. This may seem like an appealing new twist but has actually evolved from Jewish tradition.
When a couple has made pre-arrangements and one partner dies, the surviving partner is already familiar with our staff. When the survivor, other family member or friend contacts us to inform us of the death, we are already familiar with the people concerned.
Should someone other than a spouse make the call, we are able to convey the deceased's wishes, including special requests of a personal nature, such as the timing of the funeral, whether grandchildren should be included; we even receive requests on matters such as how to seat feuding relatives!
All too often we see what happens when someone has died who has no living Family members. A friend or an executor will then arrange for the funeral. Often, they don�t know of the deceased�s wishes about the cemetery they wish to be buried in or even their Hebrew name. Advanced-planning is away to document your wishes so that those remaining can honour those choices.
We find that if one partner in a marriage is Jewish and the other is not, the couple has an even greater sense of relief when arrangements about their preferences have been documented. Benjamin's has a clear philosophy on providing funeral and burial services to
intermarried couples.
For someone who has pre-planned for themselves, at the time of death, we will be able to guide a family in the way that honours and respects the deceased's wishes. We hold this as a sacred trust.