Sinai Memorial Chapel serves as a chevra kadisha for the San Francisco Bay Area. A chevra kadisha is a holy burial society made up of people that fulfill Jewish traditions of preparing the bodies of the deceased for burial. The primary services they perform are the ritual cleansing of the body and dressing it in a simple shroud. In the mid-1800s, there was no Jewish funeral home in the San Francisco Bay Area, and often no rabbi to bury Jews in accordance with Jewish traditions. To fill this need, Sinai Memorial Chapel opened its doors as a chevra kadisha. It has since flourished and for many years has been a strong institution and unifying force in the Jewish community. It now serves the entire San Francisco Bay Area and is its only Jewish funeral home. We operate as a religious and charitable nonprofit organization with funeral homes, cemeteries, and a subvention program.