Temple Micah's Cemetery Trustees Committee has expanded its service to the congregation to perform some of the duties of the Chevra Kadisha, the traditional Jewish burial society.

For more than a quarter century, Temple Micah has attempted to ease the pain and trauma of bereaved family members by assisting them with funeral and cemetery arrangements. The committee now also offers to arrange for refreshments at the family home after the burial.

Funerals and burial are uncomfortable subjects for most people, but important obligations for all families. Cemeteries, burial customs and the mitzvah of consoling the bereaved have always been central in Judaism. In Genesis, Abraham's first legal act in the land that would become Israel was purchasing a burial plot for Sarah.

Since 1979, Temple Micah has provided for the burial of its members and their families at Mt. Lebanon Cemetery in Adelphi, Md. The temple now owns about 400 sites in two cemetery sections. Burials in the main section adhere to traditional Jewish customs, while the interfaith section permits the burial of Jewish and non-Jewish family members together as well as the burial of cremated remains. Members can purchase plots in either section.

Rabbi Zemel usually helps arrange funeral services while a cemetery trustee assists with cemetery procedures, such as making sure the gravesite is prepared properly. The trustee also is available to assist with the funeral and other arrangements and to order food for the traditional light meal that follows internment. After the burial, Jews have traditionally observed a week of the most formal mourning, called Shiva (seven in Hebrew). At Temple Micah, observance varies. Arrangements are made with the rabbi.

"We want congregants to know that at a time such as a death in the family, we are on their side," said Harold Sharlin, chairman of the Cemetery Trustees Committee. "That's what we are all about."