For the first time in many years, a new Jewish funeral home has opened in Northern California.
Mandel Funeral Services is now up and running in Vallejo, but its funeral director, Daniel Mandel, indicated he and his colleague Sheila Lavey plan to travel to meet clients wherever they may be.
Mandel, who has worked as a funeral director for the past 25 years, had moved here from Chicago after having done research to see where there was a need.
Before he settled on Vallejo, he spoke with his friend Susan Lefelstein, director of the East Bay office of Sinai Memorial Chapel.
While Sinai has offices in San Francisco, Lafayette and Redwood City, no Jewish funeral services currently are offered in Marin County or farther north.
“I think it’s a good thing, what he’s doing,” said Lefelstein. If he asks for assistance “I will help him in any way I can to get started.”
“Sacramento has nothing, Santa Rosa has nothing, and Marin has no Jewish funeral home,” said Mandel. “So I felt that there was an opportunity to serve a population that’s never had the services of a Jewish funeral home.”
In his many years in the business, the funeral director has observed that when it comes to mourning a relative, many non-observant Jews want some connection to their tradition.
“It wasn’t uncommon for people to drive a great distance to come to a Jewish funeral home, even when they were not the least bit religious,” he said. “I want to help people of all backgrounds in the Jewish faith.”
That’s why he plans on providing services ranging from the minimally Jewish — he will do cremations and embalming, even though Jewish law is against both — to a fully Orthodox burial.
In fact, his offices, which were remodeled from the furniture store it used to be — “I’ve left nothing but four walls and a roof” — allow him to live on the premises.
That way, he can be sure that a body is not left unattended, in accordance with Jewish tradition.
Mandel is living there now, as will his wife when she joins him.
And if the business grows, he hopes eventually that they will move into their own home, and students from nearby Touro University can take over the duties of living there.
Mandel said he plans to work together with the local cemeteries — both Jewish and nonsectarian — and hopes to “assist congregations in Napa, Solano and Sonoma counties with the development of a new section [in the cemeteries] to serve their congregations.”