Jewish Death Research Articles

See Under: Memory:Reflections onWhen Memory Comes

It is more arduous to honor the memory of the nameless than that of the renowned. Historical construction is devoted to the memory of the nameless. Suspended in a metal shaft over the sea whose waters commingle Spain and France, these words by Walter Benjamin are etched into a thick plate of glass that keeps the visitor to his memorial from sharing his fate. Descending the vertiginous steps in the shaft, one's own shadow is projected onto the sea by the glass that signifies that one's own life is always?by the grace of historical belatedness?just beyond the reach of Nazi Germany. The gravity of life at the brink, pulling us forward into the vortex of Jewish death, and the transparent wall that keeps us safe, are locked in an unresolved struggle that makes this memorial one of the most evocative sites of post-Holocaust conscious ness.1

Changes in Jewish mortality and survival, 1963–1987

From information on mortality of Jews obtained from individual death certificates and population data from surveys of the Jewish population undertaken in 1963 and 1987, age specific death rates and life expectancy of the Jewish population of Rhode Island are compared with those of the total white population for 1963 and 1987 to assess changing differentials. The Jewish mortality experience continues to differ from that of the larger population even while both groups have experienced noticeable improvements. For males, the age standardized rates have widened in favor of Jews as have the life expectancies at birth and the percentage surviving to old age. By contrast, for females, the standardized death rate has widened considerably in favor of whites, while life expectancy has improved almost identically for both groups and therefore remained about equal, as it was in 1963. Reasons for these patterns are explored through attention to differences between Jews and the general white population in death rates at particular stages of the life cycle. Jews tend to be more advantaged at all but the most advanced ages, age groups in which proportionally more of the Jewish population and Jewish deaths are concentrated.

La « mort juive » au regard des Inquisitions ibériques

The « Jewish death » as seen by the Iberian Inquisitors In a text common to the Spanish and Portuguese Inquisitions, the edict of faith, a real catalogue of signs of heresy for popular usage which varied little from the 16th to the 18th century, we examine all references to death concerning crypto-Judaism (agony, mortuary toilet, shrouding, burial, mourning) and in so doing, the relevance of each feature which makes up this representation.

Patterns of mortality and causes of death among Rhode Island Jews, 1979-1981.

Abstract Using information provided by institutions handling Jewish deaths, this study identified 735 deaths among Jewish residents of Rhode Island during 1979–81. Official death records then provided data on the characteristics of the deceased and on cause of death, allowing comparisons of Jewish/non‐ Jewish patterns of mortality and cause of death, as well as analysis of differentials among the Jewish decedents, taking account of birthplace and occupation. The findings indicate that relatively fewer Jewish males die at ages below 65, and more at ages 85 and over than is true of total white males. Jewish females exhibit an age‐at‐death pattern more similar to that of all white women. These sex differences characterize cause of death as well. Differences are more pronounced between Jewish and non‐Jewish males than between the female groups. Most noteworthy, Jewish male deaths from diabetes are significantly higher and deaths from respiratory disease significantly lower than among total white men. Differen...