Karen Benioff Friedman Courtesy of Karen Benioff Friedman

When a Berkeley rabbi in 2004 announced that he wanted to form a chevra kadisha, Hebrew for a group that cares for the dead before burial, an artist in his congregation signed herself up. 

Karen Benioff Friedman had a mostly secular upbringing, and hadn’t known much about Jewish burial societies, but she knew she wanted to be a part of one. 

“What I found compelling is the idea that we never leave the dead alone,” she said.

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