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20-739: (Redirected from Landsmannschaften ) Landsmanschaft could refer to: Landsmanshaft , a type of Jewish mutual-aid organisation Landsmannschaft (Studentenverbindung) , a German students' fraternity Organizations of German refugees from former eastern territories Landsmannschaft Schlesien Landsmannschaft Ostpreußen Landsmannschaft Westpreußen Landsmannschaft der Deutschen aus Ungarn Landsmannschaft der Siebenbürger Sachsen in Deutschland Landsmannschaft der Deutschen aus Litauen Sudetendeutsche Landsmannschaft Deutsch-Baltische Gesellschaft Topics referred to by

40-536: A community function, in the United States it has become far more common for societies to be organized by neighborhood synagogues. In the late 19th and early 20th century, chevra kadisha societies were formed as landsmanshaft fraternal societies in the United States. Some landsmanshaftn were burial societies while others were "independent" groups split off from the chevras. There were 20,000 such landsmanshaftn in

60-533: A connection to Europe, relied on the national programs of the New Deal if they needed financial support during difficult times, and because they were not immigrants, didn't need landsmanshaftn to socialize or meet others. When officers were not replaced, it sometimes resulted in difficulties for the relatives of members who died, because the officers were required to issue burial permits to the cemeteries in which their plots were located. The state of New York , particularly

80-463: A ladies' auxiliary group for women). The Workmen's Circle /Arbeter Ring is a mutual aid society with more than 200 branches, but because it is not based on geography or members' hometowns, is not strictly a landsmanshaft even though it largely functions as one. In 1938, a federal Works Progress Administration project identified 2,468 landsmanshaftn in New York City, where the overwhelming number in

100-448: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Landsmanshaft The landsmanshaft organizations aided immigrants' transitions from Europe to America by providing social structure and support to those who arrived in the United States without the family networks and practical skills that had sustained them in Europe. Toward the end of

120-574: Is of unclear etymology. The Aramaic phrase is first attested in Yekum Purkan , in a 13th-century copy of Machzor Vitry , but it was rarely used again in print until it gained its modern sense of "burial society" in the nineteenth century. The Hebrew phrase predated it in modern popularity by some decades. Probably the Modern Hebrew phrase is a phonetic transliteration of the Ashkenazic pronunciation of

140-580: The Department of Insurance , stepped in to take over these functions for some groups. Many records of defunct landsmanshaftn eventually made their way from the New York State Department of Insurance to the archives of YIVO . Chevra kadisha The term chevra kadisha ( Hebrew : חֶבְרָה קַדִּישָׁא ) gained its modern sense of "burial society" in the nineteenth century. It is an organization of Jewish men and women who see to it that

160-534: The 19th and in the beginning of the 20th centuries, they provided immigrants help in learning English , finding a place to live and work, locating family and friends, and an introduction to participating in a democracy , through their own meetings and procedures such as voting on officers, holding debates on community issues, and paying dues to support the society. Through the first half of the 20th century, meetings were often conducted and minutes recorded in Yiddish , which

180-618: The U.S. at one time. The chevra kadisha of communities in pre-World War II Europe maintained Pinkas Klali D’Chevra Kadisha (translation: general notebook of the Chevra Kadisha); some were handwritten in Yiddish, others in Hebrew. In standard Hebrew, "sacred society" would be written חבורה קדושה ḥavurā qədošā , while in Aramaic, חבורתא קדישתא ḥavurtā qaddišṯā . Modern Hebrew chevra qadisha

200-566: The United States were located. The number of landsmanshaftn began to decline in the 1950s and 1960s as their members died and were not replaced by the next generation of their members' children. The vast majority became defunct, though some societies continue to meet regularly into the 21st century, and operate scores of burial plots in cemeteries in the New York metropolitan area . Over time, landsmanshaftn lost members as they aged and died, and many became defunct. The next generation felt less need of

220-476: The bodies of deceased Jews are prepared for burial according to Jewish tradition and are protected from desecration , willful or not, until burial. Two of the main requirements are the showing of proper respect for a corpse , and the ritual cleansing of the body and subsequent dressing for burial. It is usually referred to as a burial society in English. Throughout Jewish history, each Jewish community throughout

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240-408: The danger of theft of the body was very real; in modern times the watch has become a way of honoring the deceased. A specific task of the burial society is tending to the dead who have no next-of-kin. These are termed a meit mitzvah ( מת מצוה , a mitzvah corpse), as tending to a meit mitzvah overrides virtually any other positive commandment ( mitzvat aseh ) of Torah law, an indication of

260-527: The garments worn by the High Priest of Israel . Once the body is shrouded, the casket is closed. For burial in Israel , however, a casket is not used in most cemeteries. The society may also provide shomrim , or watchers , to guard the body from theft, vermin, or desecration until burial. In some communities this is done by people close to the departed or by paid shomrim hired by the funeral home . At one time,

280-536: The high premium the Torah places on the honor of the dead. Many burial societies hold one or two annual fast days and organise regular study sessions to remain up-to-date with the relevant articles of Jewish law . In addition, most burial societies also support families during the shiva (traditional week of mourning) by arranging prayer services , meals and other facilities. While burial societies were, in Europe , generally

300-448: The membership migrated to the suburbs. There were different types of landsmanshaftn, including Jewish burial societies known as chevra kadisha , societies associated with a particular synagogue or social movement, and "ladies auxiliary" societies for women. (Landsmanshaftn frequently admitted only men as members, with the understanding that their wives and children were covered by their membership and received equivalent benefits, or had

320-425: The same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Landsmanschaft . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Landsmanschaft&oldid=1227491530 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description

340-444: The skin, and then is ritually purified by immersion in, or a continuous flow of, water from the head over the entire body. Tahara may refer to either the entire process, or to the ritual purification. Once the body is purified, the body is dressed in tachrichim , or shrouds, of white pure muslin or linen garments made up of ten pieces for a male and twelve for a female, which are identical for each Jew and which symbolically recalls

360-572: The society paid the member or their family a benefit to keep them afloat during that time. When the funds were not needed to support members, landsmanshaftn frequently invested the money in funds that supported the Jewish community in others ways, such as Israel Bonds . Most landsmanshaftn were based in New York City , where the majority of Jews settled and conditions were conducive to sustaining these types of organizations, though they sometimes relocated as

380-439: The world has established a chevra kadisha – a holy society – whose sole function is to ensure dignified treatment of the deceased in accordance with Jewish law, custom, and tradition. Men prepare the bodies of men, women prepare those of women. At the heart of the society's function is the ritual of tahara , or purification. The body is first thoroughly cleansed of dirt, bodily fluids and solids, and anything else that may be on

400-444: Was the language that all members could understand. As Jewish immigration declined, most landsmanshaft functions faded into the background, but the organizations nevertheless continued as a way of maintaining ties to life in Europe as well as providing a form of life insurance, disability and unemployment insurance, and subsidized burial. Members paid dues on a regular basis, and if they lost their jobs, became too sick to work, or died,

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