The Electoral Mainzian Oberamt Starkenburg was an exclave. The nearest Jewish cemetery was in Alsbach, on Hessian-Darmstadt territory. The way across the border cost a duty for the funeral procession and the corpse, and the burial itself was also taxed. For the year 1705 the first Lorsch burial is proven with Simon ben Jehuda, who called himself Simon Lorsch. However, apparently not everyone could afford the prescribed rites. Therefore, in 1739, Jews from Lorsch, Kleinhausen, Bensheim, Biblis, Bürstadt, Bobstadt, Heppenheim and Hambach founded a burial brotherhood, the Chevra Kadisha, a charity association for mutual support, especially for poorer community members. The seat of this brotherhood for the Starkenburg Oberamt was in Lorsch. If a death occurred in a community, a messenger was sent to Lorsch to organize the funeral within the shortest possible time – often the following day. The funeral procession went from Lorsch across the border at the Wattenheim Bridge to Alsbach. At the end, people gathered in the Lorsch synagogue. The Starkenburg Chevra Kadisha was the second oldest association of its kind in the Electorate of Mainz. It was expanded in 1812 to include an association for the endowment of brides. The members met annually in Lorsch for the reckoning and the banquet. For these occasions, they owned a many-piece pewter tableware. The expenses were considerable. As usual, a silver goblet filled with wine then circulated, on which the names of the donors since 1739 were engraved. Moritz Mainzer noted them all down in 1914, otherwise they would have been forgotten, because the goblet was stolen during the November pogrom in 1938 and has been lost ever since. And with it all records of the society.