Terms of Service

Effective: March 24, 2026

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In plain language: Neshama is a free community resource for Jewish families in Toronto and Montreal. We aggregate obituary information, help coordinate shiva meals, and connect families with helpful services. These terms explain how the platform works and what to expect.

1. About Neshama

Neshama (“the Service”) is an obituary aggregation and shiva coordination platform operated from Ontario, Canada. We gather publicly available obituary listings from Jewish funeral homes in the Toronto and Montreal areas, and provide tools to help communities support one another during times of loss.

Our services include:

  • Aggregated obituary listings from partner funeral homes
  • Memorial pages with community tributes and guestbook entries
  • Shiva meal coordination tools for families and volunteers
  • A vendor directory of caterers and service providers
  • Curated guides and resources for families in mourning
  • Daily email digests of recent obituary listings

By using Neshama, you agree to these Terms of Service. If you do not agree, please do not use the Service.

2. Eligibility

You must be at least 13 years of age to use Neshama. If you are under 18, you may use the Service with the involvement of a parent or guardian. By using Neshama, you confirm that you meet this age requirement.

3. Accounts and Email Subscriptions

Neshama does not require you to create a user account. Most features of the site are freely available without signing in.

When you subscribe to our daily email digest, you provide your email address (and optionally your name). This is a subscription — not an account. You can unsubscribe at any time using the link in any email we send you, and we will stop all communications within 24 hours.

Our email communications comply with Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL). We will never send you unsolicited commercial messages, and we will always honour unsubscribe requests promptly.

4. Obituary Content

The obituary information displayed on Neshama is sourced from publicly available listings on funeral home websites, including Steeles Memorial Chapel, Benjamin’s Park Memorial Chapel, Paperman & Sons, and Misaskim Montreal.

We do not create, author, or independently verify obituary content. We present this information as a community service to help people stay informed. While we make every effort to display information accurately, errors in source material may occasionally appear.

If you are a family member and notice an error, or if you would like information corrected or removed, please contact us at contact@neshama.ca and we will respond within 24 hours.

5. User-Generated Content

Neshama allows community members to contribute content such as tributes, guestbook entries, and shiva coordination details. When you submit content to Neshama:

  • Your content remains yours. You retain ownership of any original content you submit.
  • You grant us a licence to display it. By submitting content, you grant Neshama a non-exclusive, royalty-free licence to display, store, and distribute that content as part of the Service.
  • You are responsible for what you submit. Content must be respectful, truthful, and appropriate for a grief-support platform. Do not submit content that is hateful, defamatory, misleading, or that infringes on another person’s rights.
  • We may moderate or remove content. We reserve the right to review, edit, or remove any user-generated content at our discretion, particularly content that violates these terms or is inappropriate for the context of honouring the deceased.

6. Vendor Directory

Neshama maintains a directory of caterers, florists, and other service providers relevant to families during the shiva period. These listings are provided as an informational resource.

  • Vendor listings are not endorsements. Inclusion in our directory does not constitute a recommendation or guarantee of quality.
  • Any transactions between you and a vendor listed on Neshama are solely between you and that vendor. Neshama is not a party to those transactions.
  • Vendors who pay for enhanced listings are clearly identified. Paid placement does not affect the accuracy of vendor information.

7. Payments and Subscriptions

Neshama is free for families. We will never charge families to view obituaries, use memorial pages, or coordinate shiva meals.

We offer optional paid features:

  • Community Sustainer ($18/year) — a voluntary contribution that supports the platform and includes a few extra features as a thank-you.
  • Vendor Listings ($49/month) — paid directory placements for caterers and service providers.

All payments are processed securely by Stripe. Neshama never stores your credit card details. Payment processing is governed by Stripe’s Terms of Service.

Refund policy: Community Sustainer contributions are refundable within 30 days of payment if you are not satisfied. Vendor listing fees are non-refundable once the listing has been published, but we will work with you to resolve any concerns. Contact contact@neshama.ca for any billing questions.

8. Affiliate Links

Some pages on Neshama contain affiliate links to products on Amazon that we believe may be helpful during the shiva period — items like serving supplies, comfort gifts, and books on mourning.

When you click an affiliate link, you leave Neshama and are taken to Amazon’s website, where Amazon’s own terms and privacy policies apply. Neshama earns a small commission on qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you. As an Amazon Associate, Neshama earns from qualifying purchases.

9. Privacy

Your privacy matters to us — especially given the sensitive nature of the information on this platform. Our full Privacy Policy explains what data we collect, how we use it, and your rights under Canadian law.

In brief: we collect minimal data, we use cookie-free analytics (Plausible), we never sell your information, and we comply with Canada’s Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA).

10. Intellectual Property

The Neshama name, logo, website design, original content, and software are the property of Neshama and are protected by Canadian intellectual property laws. You may not copy, reproduce, or distribute our original content without written permission.

Obituary content is sourced from funeral homes and remains the intellectual property of its respective authors and publishers. User-generated content (tributes, guestbook entries) remains the property of its authors, as described in Section 5.

11. Limitation of Liability

Neshama is provided “as is” and “as available.” While we strive to keep the Service reliable and accurate, we cannot guarantee uninterrupted access or error-free content.

To the fullest extent permitted by Ontario and Canadian law:

  • Neshama is not liable for any errors or omissions in obituary content sourced from funeral homes.
  • Neshama is not liable for any actions, products, or services of third-party vendors listed in our directory.
  • Neshama is not liable for any indirect, incidental, or consequential damages arising from your use of the Service.
  • Our total liability for any claim related to the Service shall not exceed the amount you have paid us in the twelve months preceding the claim, or $50 CAD, whichever is greater.

12. Governing Law

These Terms of Service are governed by the laws of the Province of Ontario and the federal laws of Canada applicable therein. Any disputes arising from these terms or your use of Neshama shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of Ontario, Canada.

13. Changes to These Terms

We may update these Terms of Service from time to time to reflect changes in the Service or in applicable law. When we make changes, we will update the “Effective” date at the top of this page. Material changes will also be communicated to email subscribers.

Your continued use of Neshama after changes are posted constitutes your acceptance of the updated terms.

14. Contact Us

If you have questions about these terms, or if there is anything we can help with, please reach out:

contact@neshama.ca

We are a small team building this for our community, and we are always happy to hear from you.