Based on Genesis 47:29, ensuring the proper care for and burial of the dead is known in the rabbinic tradition as the “kindness of truth” (ḥesed shel emet), since one cannot expect to receive anything in return, even a gesture thanks, from the deceased. The organization Chesed Shel Emes—which takes its name from the Ashkenazi pronunciation of the phrase—provides ritual purification and burial for Jewish dead without means or without synagogue affiliations. In a photo essay, Mark Abramson shows how COVID-19 has affected the group’s mission. Isadora Kosofsky writes:

At the UN General Assembly on Tuesday, the Israeli prime minister drew attention to Hizballah’s use of human shields, pointing out three locations where the Iran-backed terrorist group has constructed factories for the production of precision-guided missiles: two beneath multistory apartment buildings and one in an urban residential neighborhood in close proximity to gas installations. Such behavior not only exhibits reckless disregard for human life, but also violates international law. It is also a useful tactic, as Orde Kittrie explains: