Children Learn Jewish Ritual of Burying Books

LOS ANGELES — Though unable to resist a pinch here, a poke there, and even a few mock punches and explosive giggles, the 370 students seated at the edge of the tombstones at Mt. Sinai cemetery Thursday said they took their mission very seriously.

“You have to keep the Jewish tradition alive,” said 10-year-old Matan Cafri, a fifth-grader at Kadima Hebrew School in Woodland Hills.

Wearing yarmulkes and T-shirts, Matan and hundreds of other fifth- and sixth-graders came from Jewish schools all over Los Angeles County to participate in the ritual burial of religious books.

“The most important thing in Judaism is God, and you have to respect him in any form,” explained Seth Samuels, a student at Adat Ariel Day School in Valley Village.

For thousands of years, Jews have buried religious books that can no longer be used--adhering to an injunction against simply discarding writings that include God’s name. Tens of thousands of books already are interred in special sections of Mt. Sinai.

But four years ago, the cemetery decided to turn the practice into a ceremony for children.

“This is not just going to temple and sitting through a boring service,” said Leib Lehmann, director of family care services for Mt. Sinai. “This allows them to have a tactile connection.”

“It makes you feel really, really special, like you’re contributing something to your culture,” said Brooke Polson from Heschel West Day School in Agoura.

“You don’t bury ‘Harry Potter’ when you’re done with it,” added Sarina Rubin from Sinai Akiba Academy in West Los Angeles. “But these books are holy.”