Six Feet Apart

Caring for the grieving is tradition at Sol Levinson and Bros. funeral home—even during a pandemic.

- MIKE UNGER

As mourners pull their cars into the parking lot of Sol Levinson and Bros. funeral home off Reisterstown Road, they are met by a young man wearing a black suit and a young woman in a black dress. Each sports a black mask that covers their mouth and nose. It’s a late July morning and at 9 a.m. the temperature is already an unpleasantly sticky 84 degrees. Like almost every day of the year except for Saturdays (a day of prayer in the Jewish religion) and Jewish holidays, there’s a funeral here today. The greeters direct the drivers through the massive asphalt lot on the six-acre campus, but in the age of COVID, most of the spots will remain empty. Because of the virus, a maximum of 20 people are allowed to be present at services.

Mourners are directed not inside to one of Levinson’s two chapels, but to a makeshift, albeit tastefully decorated, outdoor one. Black folding chairs are spaced in groups at least six feet apart. A hand sanitizer station sits on a red carpet near the entrance. Oscillating fans are plugged into outlets in the back. Potted plants dot the perimeter.

In the before times, this space was a carport for the company’s fleet of limousines.

There’s hardly an aspect of society that the coronavirus has not affected, but perhaps no industry has paid an emotional toll more than the funeral business.