Seekers of Meaning 6/21/2024: David Zinner, Co-Founder, Jewish Association for Death Education (JADE)

Jewish Sacred Aging Podcasts

On this week’s episode of the Seekers of Meaning TV Show and Podcast, David Zinner, the co-founder and board chair of the Jewish Association for Death Education (JADE) discussed JADE’s interactive web educational tool on Jewish practices and rituals related to death and end-of-life care.

JADE works with the entire Jewish community, affiliated and unaffiliated, large cities and small towns, to provide education and information directly to the ultimate consumer and to those who provide services to them. JADE seeks to identify, and provide resources, to provide information in a way that is personal, sensitive, and meaningful, incorporating traditional Jewish practices in contemporary contexts.

JADE offers spiritual and educational resources to help people understand the rites, rituals, and processes surrounding death. We aim to fill a major void by providing a centralized resource for all the different elements of death and to help death become a mainstream conversation. JADE also provides ongoing education and training for individuals and other organizations that deal with end-of-life issues and bereavement.

Ultimately, JADE’s services aim to comfort families and help them make informed choices during the difficult time of losing a loved one.

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About the Guest

David Zinner, co-founder of the Jewish Association for Death Education (JADE)

David Zinner

David Zinner is the founder and recently retired Executive Director of Kavod v’Nichum, (Honor and Comfort), which has worked to restore to Jewish death and bereavement practice, the traditions and values of kavod hamet (honoring the dead) and nichum avelim (comforting the bereaved) since 2000. He is also the co-founder of the Gamliel Institute, a center for leadership training and advocacy of traditional Jewish practice in the continuum of care at the end of life since 2010.

His 20 years of work for Kavod v’Nichum included traveling around the country conducting chevrah kadisha trainings for local chevrot, coordinating the Chevrah Kadisha Conference, a conference dedicated to sharing knowledge about Jewish end of life practices, and managing the jewish-funerals.org website, a website which includes hundreds of pages of resources on Jewish end of life practices.

David’s newest project – PRINCE – Preservation and Restoration Initiative for Neglected Cemetery Entities matches cemeteries that need labor with prisoners eligible for work release.

As co-Vice-President of the Jewish Funeral Practices Committee of Greater Washington, David participates in developing citywide contracts with funeral homes. He is a consumer representative on the State of Maryland’s Advisory Council on Cemetery Operations. He was the Executive Director of Tifereth Israel Congregation, a conservative synagogue in Washington, DC for 10 years.

David is a past president, choir member, succah building coordinator and Chevra Kadisha Chair at the Columbia Jewish Congregation and a bike leader for Cycle to Health, a Howard County sponsored senior cycling group, and a chief election judge in Howard County Maryland.

David received a bachelor’s degree from Washington University in St. Louis, MO , with a major in non-profit management.

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