Chevra kadisha חברה קדישא

Rashi, explaining Jacob's request to Joseph, says: kindness shown to the dead is true kindness, because the one who does it expects no repayment. Out of that single phrase the whole matter grew.

What is done. The body is watched until burial, so that it is not left alone; it is washed—this is called taharah; it is dressed in tachrichim, plain white garments without pockets and without difference between rich and poor; and it is buried. Apart from this: the met mitzvah, a dead person with no one to bury him. For his sake almost everything is set aside, even things not usually set aside; here whoever is near is obliged.

The society. The work itself is old, but the society as an institution is young: the first known one was founded in Prague in 5324 by Rabbi Eliezer Ashkenazi, and its rules were later written down by the Maharal. From there it spread across Europe; in Italy, Aaron Berechiah of Modena published in 5386 the Maavar Yabbok—a book on how to sit with the dying and what to do afterwards—and societies worked by it for two hundred years.

How it was regarded. Not as a heavy duty. Membership in the chevra was held an honour, and members were elected; the Prague society had its own yearly fast and its own meal after it, and its own paintings showing every step of the work. A community that wants to know the truth about itself looks at who is in its chevra kadisha.