We all want someone there at the gateway of birth and death.

And some people spend their entire professional lives standing at one end or another.

Babies tend to have all kinds of hands ready to catch them when they emerge - ideally gloved and gentle - and, we'd like to think, a family on hand to welcome them.

When we die, most of us would like to imagine a similar welcoming - or farewell - party at the other end.

A set of rituals, a group of people, or even a person there to ensure we remain an individual.

Ephraim Finch was that person for Melbourne's Jewish community over three decades - a "deathworker" who provided support to bereaved Jewish families, including Holocaust survivors, while navigating coroners, police, clergy and medical professionals.

His biographer, Melbourne write

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