Burial set for sacred Jewish texts

Stacy J. Willis

Friday, Oct. 8, 1999 | 11:20 a.m.

The yellow and crumbling pages of hundreds of sacred Jewish books will find their final resting place this weekend.

The Clark County Board of Rabbis and Palm Mortuary have arranged for the dedication of Las Vegas's first formal "genizah" -- a place where the books can be buried.

"In Judaism, we don't throw away sacred writing -- books with God's name in them, or books of Jewish text," Rabbi Shea Harlig of Chabad of Southern Nevada said. "We have an ancient tradition -- we bury them."

On Sunday at 1:30 p.m., members of the Las Vegas Jewish community will gather to bury sacred books in a deep vault at Palm Mortuary and Memorial Park, 7600 S. Eastern Ave. A small, informal ceremony will accompany the burial.

"The same way that a body is considered sacred so you bury it, we take our texts and bury them," Harlig said. "The idea is that God's name is sacred, and you treat it with respect. You treat the books with reverance, and hopefully, it translates into the rest of your ways and you remember to respect God."

For weeks local Jews have been bringing their sacred books to their synagogues to prepare for the event.

"They have been dropping books and pamphlets off -- any kind of sacred literature. We actually have been collecting them in garbage bags," Harlig said. "Many times people have just held onto them, having nowhere to put them until now.

"Sometimes when we bury somebody we put books in the casket -- sometimes I will ask a family if I may include some sacred books in the casket with their loved one, and they consider it an honor," Harlig said.

In cities with larger Jewish communities, Harlig said, there are businesses that perform the duty of proper book burial. For a fee they will come to a house and pick up books and take them to the community's genizah.

Los Angeles also has a formal community genizah, Harlig said.

Las Vegas has more than 75,000 Jewish people and is considered one of the fastest-growing Jewish communities in the nation.

"Las Vegas is getting much bigger. I would say this is long overdue," Harlig said.