Death is difficult to talk about, but JADE, the Jewish Association for Death Education, exists to make those conversations a little easier. The organization was founded in January 2023 by Susan Kramer and David Zinner with the mission of guiding Jewish individuals and families through advance planning, dying, death, mourning, grief and even discussions about the afterlife by providing education, resources and support. 

Zinner is the founder and recently retired executive director of Kavod v’Nichum (Honor and Comfort), a Jewish nonprofit dedicated to training pluralistic chevra kadisha, or Jewish burial societies, across the United States and Canada. He met Kramer at a chevra kadisha conference that she was attending in her capacity as a fundraising consultant.

Taking in the panels and talks being staged for hospice workers, palliative care doctors, funeral home professionals and others, Kramer found herself turning to Zinner at the event and asking, “Who educates mere mortals like me?”—those with no expertise in death and dying. “The answer was no one.” And so, JADE was born.

JADE stages in-person workshops in cities across the country led by community-based experts such as rabbis, funeral directors, death doulas—non-medical professionals who provide holistic end-of-life support—hospice workers and chevra kadisha members. Online, the organization offers a clearinghouse for all things related to Jewish death and dying, including its signature Hineni tool that provides information about bikkur cholim (visiting the sick), viddui (deathbed confession), caskets and garments, grieving and preplanning, which can include details like writing an ethical will, registering to be an organ donor, purchasing a gravesite and picking favorite poems or music for funerals. 

JADE also sponsors several virtual events each month in addition to its ongoing Death Schmooze series on Zoom, co-presented by Kramer, which she describes as a storytelling opportunity for regular people to talk about their lived experiences with death.

“We’re all going to die,” Kramer said. “We all have to deal with death sooner or later. JADE tries to prepare people and to normalize the conversation. We like to say, ‘Talking about death won’t kill you.’ ”

Avi Dresner is a journalist, documentarian and screenwriter. He lives in the Berkshires with his family.