Rabbi Prevents Last-Minute Cremation of Elderly Jewish Man in New York

Joel Shani, an 80-year-old man with cerebral palsy living in a nursing facility in the Catskill Mountains, New York, passed away on July 30. Rabbi Yosef David Shtrani Chanovich and his wife, who have run the Chabad house in Monticello since 2022, discovered several days later that the nursing home had already arranged a non-Jewish farewell ceremony and scheduled cremation for August 4. The couple, focused on promoting Jewish burial awareness after a previous incident involving a Jewish woman’s cremation, launched an urgent campaign to intervene. After a weekend without progress, a nurse at the facility connected them with decision-makers. Rabbi Chanovich negotiated with the facility’s management and the Chevra Kadisha, securing cancellation of the cremation and transfer of the deceased for Jewish burial, contingent on immediate coverage of expenses. With emergency support from the "Chesed Shel Emet" organization, volunteers from Monsey performed the ritual purification and guarding, funding the costs. Joel Shani was ultimately buried at the Chesed Shel Emet cemetery in Woodridge, New York.