JUNE 15 • 2023 | 25

who live out of town and 
hope to visit them more 
often.
David Techner has been 
very active in the Jewish 
community and is especially 
proud of being a founder of 
Jewish Hospice & Chaplaincy 
Network, which helps 
patients and families with 
chronic illnesses and end-of-
life support. 
He initiated a project with 
the Wayne County medical 
examiner, along with other 
local funeral directors and 
cemeteries, to help with 
identification and burial of 
unclaimed individuals at 
the county morgue. Techner 
read about the problem some 
years ago and enlisted the 
Jewish Fund to help with 
burial costs. 

Techner’s calm, low-key 
manner and professional 
expertise are reassuring as 
families cope with the loss 
of a loved one and decisions 
about a funeral service, buri-
al and shivah. Despite the 
nature of his work, Techner 
doesn’t find it to be over-
whelmingly sad. 
“Most of the time, we’re 
dealing with people whose 
deaths are not unexpected,” 
he explains. His focus is 
fulfilling the Ira Kaufman 
tradition of putting families 
first — providing what they 
want. 

Techner has a particular 
interest in supporting chil-
dren as they cope with death 
and will go to a home to meet 
with a child. He suggests that 
“Honesty is the best policy” 
when telling a child about 
a family member’s death. 
Techner says the explanation 
could be “Grandpa was sick, 
and his body stopped work-
ing. Now we’re planning for 
his burial.” 

Techner co-wrote a 1993 
book — A Candle for Grandpa 
— that explains Jewish 
funeral practices from the 
perspective of a young boy. 
It includes insights from 
memories of his grandfather’s 
death when he was 9. 
The Ira Kaufman Chapel 
handles 370 to 400 funerals 
annually. Throughout the 
years, Techner says that long-
held Jewish traditions about 
burial have been maintained. 
However, some variations 
during the height of the pan-
demic have continued. 
Today, most funerals 
handled by Ira Kaufman 
Chapel are live-streamed, 
which is much appreciated 
by out-of-town relatives and 
friends. Also, there has been 
an increase in funerals that 
are held at the graveside 
rather than in the chapel. 
Even before the pandemic, 
the duration of shivah typ-
ically had shortened, and 
cremation had become more 
acceptable by some within 
the Jewish community.
While Josh Tobias, 48, is 
not a Kaufman family mem-
ber, he has known Techner 
since he was very young. “I’m 
grateful for the opportunity 
he has given me for the past 
13 years. He’s a great partner,” 
Tobias says. “My goal is a 
seamless transition that has 
been going on for a while. 
I’ve learned from David.” 
His focus is to take care 
of the families who come to 
the Ira Kaufman Chapel and 
fulfill their needs. Tobias is 
president of JARC’s board 
and is a past board member 
of Temple Israel. 
“I have all the confidence 
in the world in Josh,” says 
Techner, who adds that the 
chapel has “as good a staff as 
we’ve ever had.” 

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