Abstract:Allocation of new grounds for a cemetery is part of a rich fabric of rituals performed in cemeteries in Judaism, as well as in other cultures. Such an activity would seem to be a routine event, no cause for concern, as natural population growth demands occasional expansion. However, in times of plague, when the death rate increased quickly, the need to expand a cemetery grew pressing, and the allocation of new grounds was associated with communal distress. This paper discusses a ceremony of inaugurating a new … Show more
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