A chevra kaisha (חברה קדישא Aramaic: "holy society", acting as a "burial society", sometimes transliterates as khevra kadisha) is a loosely structured but generally closed organization of Jewish men and women who see to it that the bodies of Jews are prepared for burial according to Halacha (Jewish law) and are protected from desecration, willful or not, until burial. Two of the main requirements are the showing of proper respect for a corpse, and the ritual cleansing of the body and subsequent dressing for burial.