Body Donation
Procedure for the reception and transfer of a body which has been bequeathed
1. In order to allow maximum benefit from the bequest of the body, such bequests are for three years, or without a time limit.
2. If the bequest was without a time limit, the Department may retain the remains or body parts, as needed. When the Department decides to bury the remains or body parts, they will be buried in accordance with the customs of the donor’s religious group. The family will not be informed, in order to respect the donor’s wish not to burden his/her family with any matters regarding the burial.
3. Any objection to the section above by a relative (of first degree, or by the person designated by the donor) should be submitted by registered letter to the Department of Anatomy, Sackler Medical School, Tel Aviv University - at least one month before the end of the first year after the transfer of the body to the Department. The Department reserves the right to accede or not to accede to such a request and to decide how best to comply with the wishes of the donor, as expressed in the bequest form.
4. When research on the donor’s body has been completed, the Department of Anatomy will inform the designated family member or close friend, at the end of the three-year period specified by the donor, or in response to a request by telephone or letter, that it is now possible to bury the body. If a response is not received within thirty days, the Department will send a second letter by registered post. If a response is still not received within an additional thirty days, the Department will then arrange burial as it thinks best, without receipt of agreement by the family or the donor’s relative/close friend, in accordance with the burial customs in Israel.
5. If the donor's family or close friend, in consultation with the Department, decides on a time and place of burial, the Department will transfer the body by ambulance at the appropriate time to the cemetery with the "Burial Permit".
6. The Department of Anatomy will take care of the administrative matters connected with the burial, the transfer of the body and the provision of the burial permit, and will coordinate with the burial society "Haver Kadisa" חברה קדישא.
7. Burial of the body will be in a cemetery in the area where the deceased had his/her last residence, in accordance with the regulations of the country. The cost will be borne by the National Insurance Institute ביטוח לאומי)). The Department of Anatomy will not be involved in this.
8. If the family of the deceased wishes to have the remains buried in a private or secular cemetery, not under the auspices of a burial society (חברה קדישא) or in a plot other than that designated by the burial society, the family must make the necessary arrangements and cover all additional expenses so incurred.
9. Burial must be conducted by a recognized body, for example, a burial society "חברה קדישא" or other organization authorized by the Ministry of Health to conduct burials. After burial, the grave will be marked by that organization, in accordance with its customary procedure.
10. The Department of Anatomy will not be responsible for the construction of a tombstone wherever the remains are buried. The Department is also not responsible for a tombstone when the burial occurs without the presence of the family or without the knowledge of the family.
11. If the family wishes to build a tombstone on the grave, the family will cover all the costs involved in so doing and will obtain any necessary permits.
12. The Tel Aviv University Medical School will not be responsible for any damage that may occur to the donor’s body while it is being transferred from place to place, nor while it is being kept on the Department’s premises.
13. Tel Aviv University will not be responsible for any delay during the reception or transfer of the body or at the time of burial caused by a technical problem with the ambulance or due to other reason not related to Tel Aviv University.
14. Tel Aviv University will not arrange services in memory of the deceased when it receives the body, nor an oration or other ceremony while the body is in the Department's keeping.
15. Tel Aviv University will not arrange burial of the body abroad.
16. The Tel Aviv University Medical School will not be responsible for any personal property on the body at the time it is transferred to the Department of Anatomy.
