A BURIAL CEREMONY for worn-out sacred texts:

At synagogue, old texts are laid to rest
Forks congregation gives worn-out prayer books a proper burial.

By Marion Callahan | Of The Morning Call
March 31, 2008

Sheila Goldberg carefully maneuvered around the mounds of dirt at the rear corner of Bnai Abraham Synagogue's cemetery, approaching an open grave cradling a prayer book she treasured for nearly 70 years.

Using a traditional Jewish prayer shawl, she wrapped the book, its pages yellowed and its edges frayed, and asked: ''Do I just drop it in?'' A man beside her smiled and nodded.

And she let it go.

In a ceremony that dates back thousands of years, members of Bnai Abraham Synagogue in Wilson gathered Sunday at the Forks Township cemetery, to bury worn-out sacred texts, an ancient tradition that Rabbi Mark Shrager said ''bestows respect on the words that spread God's message.''

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