Opinion
0 IHER VIEWS
The Greening Of Burial
T
ake Good Care of the Earth."
This was the bumper sticker that
found its way to the rear of many
of the cars my friends and I drove in col-
lege. I would be less than honest if I did
not admit that even though the message
was subtle, 40 years ago my friends and I
were unaware of the environmental chal-
lenges that would confront our generation
as we entered the 21st century.
I can, however, state with pride the pas-
sion I see daily from my three adult chil-
dren and their significant others as they
confront the effects of generations whose
indifference to the effects of their careless
and clueless treatment of the Earth that
we inhabit but claim our love for.
From the current political climate, an
economic crisis unseen since the Great
Depression, it is impossible to watch the
news, read the paper or surf the 'Net with-
out being confronted with talk of cleaning
up the environment and teaching and
learning "green."
As I entered the funeral profession
in 1974, the two big issues confronting
the profession were the effects of Jessica
Midford's The American Way of Death,
a book slamming the funeral industry's
excesses of overpriced products and
services, many of which she deemed as
unnecessary.
The second issue was seen as the
challenge to the sacred "tradi-
tional funeral," which included
embalming, a day or two of
visitation with elaborate metal
or wood caskets, concrete burial
vaults and flowers adorning
chapels and churches and an
almost certain ground burial.
The issue was the growing
acceptance of cremation as an
alternative to ground burial,
sometimes with a service tak-
ing place at a funeral home, but
often with a memorial service
taking place with arrangements
handled by family and friends, absent the
funeral director.
The environmentalists spoke of the
wasted land occupied by the dead while
giving little consideration for the toxic
chemicals released in the cremation
process. Questions were asked: How long
before land no longer existed for ground
burial and what, if any, was our plan B?
At a recent meeting attended by funeral
directors, the speaker, a Ph.D. in ecology,
stated that when the concept starts with
burning anything, the environment is soon
to become the loser. He spoke of the con-
cept of "Green Burial" or "Natural Burial:'
What is Green Burial? Simple and natu-
ral, according to the Web site greenburi-
als.org . "Green burial, or natural burial,
ensures the burial site remains
as natural as possible in all
respects. Interment is done
in a biodegradable casket, a
shroud or a favorite blanket. No
embalming fluid, no concrete
vaults."
As a Jewish funeral direc-
tor and member of the Jewish
Funeral Directors of America, I
can imagine the previous para-
graph included with slight vari-
ations on every JFDA member's
Web site nationwide. A favorite
blanket might accompany a
shroud, but not replace a shroud. And con-
crete vaults are often a cemetery require-
ment, but the intent is virtually the same.
The terms "Jewish Burial;' "Green
Burial" and "Natural Burial" are syn-
onymous, for essentially they all mean
the same thing. What's notable is not
that organizations like the Green Burial
Council are relatively new, but that the
sages of Judaism adopted these practices
thousands of years ago.
"And thus we give back to the earth, that
which was of the earth" — a prayer recited
at a Jewish burial was not written with the
environment in mind. It was so practical
and sound in its roots, it has stood the
test of time — some 2,000 to 3,000 years.
Although a common misunderstood fact
that a plain pine box is a requirement,
there is nothing written about any type
of box or container to be used in a Jewish
burial. It could be said that many of the
edicts found in the green burial movement
today are the adaptations of Jewish funer-
als in a modern-day world.
In Israel today, the body, or met, is
brought to the cemetery in a container,
removed and buried in the ground with
friends, family and the community com-
pleting the task of burial. No casket, no
vault, only the shroud.
As the movement in the funeral industry
may be debated between green burials and
cremations as it relates to the environment,
JFDA members can sit this debate out,
knowing that the sages of our tradition were
not only scholars of their time, but in their
wisdom were thousands of years ahead of
their time as "protectors of the earth."
Their wisdom of "we come from the
earth as so to the earth we shall return" is
not a convenient environmental debate, but
what Tevye famously declared in Fiddler on
the Roof "Tradition, tradition!" E
David M. Techner is a funeral director at the
Ira Kaufman Chapel, Southfield. This viewpoint
developed from his attendance at a Michigan
Funeral Directors Association District 6 (Metro
Detroit) seminar on Green Burials held in
November.
Don't Get Burned By Next Madoff
Chicago/JTA
T
rust, but verify," one of President
Ronald Reagan's favorite maxims,
has new meaning for America's
not-for-profit community, which manages
billions of dollars of contributions, endow-
ments and grants.
In this era of global financial crisis,
philanthropic investors are suffering the
same fallout from mismanagement, lax
oversight and outright thievery that has
impacted the private sector.
Trust in the realm of resource manage-
ment arguably is even more precious a
currency for philanthropic organizations
than it is for profit-making companies.
Social welfare charities are the ones
charged with translating the altruistic
intentions of a concerned public into
effective action on behalf of vulnerable
populations. The fraying of the cord of
public confidence endangers the safety net
C2
Aprii 2 2009
for those who need it most.
boy network (i.e.,"I know a guy
As the president of a major
who knows a guy ...") plays no
nonprofit (Jewish United
part in the equation.
Fund/Jewish Federation of
Second, never put all your
Metropolitan Chicago), I know
eggs in one basket. It's shock-
that meriting public trust in
ing how many philanthropies
our stewardship of resources
seemed to have violated that
requires no magic tricks.
most elementary of prin-
Applying fundamental prin-
ciples and crashed along with
ciples of due diligence is the key.
Bernard Madoff.
Steven B.
Those fundamentals include
Given that even the most-
Nasatir
having in place full-time profes-
savvy investors sometimes
Special
sional staff, including a chief
experience losses, effective
Comnentary
investment officer (my organi-
risk management is absolutely
zation is virtually unique among
critical. Allocating assets across
Jewish philanthropies in employing one);
multiple dimensions (asset classes, indus-
an investment committee composed of lay try sectors, countries, currencies, strategies
leaders with strong investment expertise
and managers) is essential to ensure that
who take seriously their fiduciary respon-
no single factor can seriously damage the
sibilities; and outside investment advisers
total portfolio (ours comprises more than
with impeccable credentials.
100 individual investments, each of which
Before moving forward with any invest-
includes multiple underlying positions).
ment, all three parties must agree. The old-
On top of this extensive diversification,
it's important to add an additional layer
of risk control by limiting concentration.
For example, we choose to limit any single
hedge fund-type investment to no more
than 1.5 percent of the total portfolio.
Enforcing these policies paid off for my
organization in 2005 when a hedge fund
in which we held a position committed
fraud. Although we lost slightly more than
half of our investment in that one fund,
because the size of our investment was
limited, the impact on our total portfolio
was contained to only four-tenths of a
percent. In that calendar year, we still
achieved a net total return of 9.8 percent
— exactly double the 4.9 percent return of
the S&P 500.
(We currently manage about $600 mil-
lion and our annualized return — net of
all fees and expenses — during the past
26 years, including 2008, has been 11.1
Don't Get Burned on page C3