When Abraham Rogarshevsky passed away, Doctor Louis Friedman who had treated him for almost two years prior to his death signed the death certificate and noted the burial arrangements. Normally Abraham would have been buried as soon as possible, but because he died Friday evening after the onset of the Sabbath, the family waited until Sunday to bury him. The body could not be moved because of the Sabbath prohibition against work. After the end of the Sabbath, when it was time to prepare the body for burial, members of the Chevra Kadisha or "holy society" associated with Abraham's mutual aid association would undertake the preparations.
"When somebody�s sick we try to visit them, definitely. It is not a matter of dying, the Bible says that we can, we should visit people when they are sick. You anoint them with oil for the healing of his spirit, and for the forgiveness of his sins. Sometimes the people misunderstood this part of the Bible and they � because the Catholic Church has the practice of the extremaunci�n when you�re almost to die � they give you Last Rites to die. So sometimes people from the church, that are members of the Seventh Day Adventist now, they used to be Catholic, and they have a relative who�s almost dying or has cancer or something, and the doctor told them that he, that the relative�s going to die, they call the pastor, and say, �Pastor, my relative�s going to die! And, can you come and anoint him?� So usually I always have to explain this. Because the Bible says, it�s not only for the people who�s dying, you can do it for anybody who�s sick."