When we have been to a cemetery, it is customary to wash our hands before entering a building. It is a remnant of the Biblical idea that contact with the dead puts an individual into a different state. Purification by water is necessary prior to re-entering the community. What rituals have been helpful to you in making the transition from focusing completely on your loved one, and being able to be more fully a part of your own, albeit changed, life?


haggadah Section: Urchatz
Source: National Center for Jewish Healing, A Personal Passover Journal for memory and Contemplation