App launched to help grieving relatives through Jewish mourning rituals

Funeral and shiva details on the Indications app (Photo: indications.info)[Missing Credit]

Daniel, 51, said that the app was created in memory of his father, Richard, inspired by a conversation with him shortly before his death in February, aged 82.

“Around six to eight weeks before he died, he pulled out his pocket siddur, and in it, he had written the names of all the family members who had passed away, their yahrzeit dates and the reference numbers for their burial plots. He had titled it ‘Indications’ and said it would be a good idea to have an app to be able to store all this information on.”

Daniel, who lives in Borehamwood, said that when someone close dies, “executive function shuts down, yet the phone never stops ringing. Grieving families are left trying to broadcast WhatsApp messages to hundreds of people, while coordinating minyan times and food. My father long envisioned an intuitive digital companion to carry families through that wilderness.”

Daniel said had the app been up and running when his father had died, “it would have made life a lot easier, as there was so much miscommunication, with people sending out different messages about visiting times during the shiva. This meant there was no time to rest and that some people even turned up after the shiva had ended.”

The app means users can send out a link containing the most up-to-date information to family and friends, rather than sending out multiple WhatsApp messages if the arrangements change.

“A couple of other people have already said to me that they wished they’d had the app when their relative had passed away as it would have saved them so much stress,” said Daniel.

A screenshot from the Indications app, supporting the bereaved through the different stages of mourning (Photo: indications.info)[Missing Credit]

Indications also provides information on Jewish mourning rituals. Daniel, whose father set up the chevra kadisha at Mill Hill Synagogue and had been a lifelong volunteer of the United Synagogue Burial Society, said that during his own bereavement, “I had so many questions I wanted to ask my dad, like: ‘Can I trim my beard?’ I had also never said Kaddish before, and the app includes the words, as well as an audio version of this.”

While the basic features of the app are free, for an annual or lifetime fee, app users can get additional services. These include creating “deeply personal” eulogies and death notices, with the help of AI, and setting up a memorial hub, where friends from around the world can leave messages, light virtual memorial candles and view photo tribute galleries.

“When my father died, my mother wanted to have all the messages in one place,” said Daniel, adding that only messages which had been approved by the account holders would be displayed.

For more information, go to:

www.indications.info or click here