Chevra Kadisha record book

Jewish communities in Hungary came to institutionally exist during the 18th century. This brought about the establishment of a number of welfare organizations. The primary function of the Chevrot Kadisha (Holy Associations) was to maintain cemeteries and manage ritual burials of the dead. Costs of burials, but also charity provisions to the sick, the orphans and the widow(er)s were covered from donations (tzedaka) collected from each and every member of the community. The statutes of the association, membership lists and accounting were all laid down in an ornate book called Pinchas, a Hebrew word of Greek origin. The cover page of the records of the Jánoshalma Chevra Kadisha was decorated with the arch-type motif, very common in Hebrew book design during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The painted scene on the lower third of the cover shows a funeral as the members of the Chevra Kadisha carry the deceased on their shoulders to the cemetery and a man holding a prayer tablet walks before them. This representation is a reminder of the practice of laying the body on a simple plank before lowering it to the grave. This practice was later banned by the public health regulations of modernizing states.