A resting place?

If you are searching for your Jewish ancestors in cemeteries, be aware of Jewish tradition and law pertaining to burial issues. This may complicate location of graves in some cemeteries.

Jewish cemeteries, depending on denomination and tradition, may have separate sections for men and women, thereby precluding husbands and wives to be buried next to each other, some have separate sections for children. Traditional Jewish law forbids cremation, and a non-Jewish spouse or relative may not be buried in a traditional Jewish cemetery.

Liberal Jewish cemeteries around the world allow practices not permitted by other denominations, such as Conservative (Masorti) or Orthodox.

Historically, the liberal movement (also called Reform in the US or Progressive in other countries) - founded in 19th-century Germany - holds more liberal views as to membership requirements, intermarriage and other issues, including cemetery regulations.

In the UK, the Liberal Jewish Community of Prestbury (Gloucestershire) - founded last year - has been granted its own plot of land at Cheltenham Cemetery, in Bouncer's Lane. The established Jewish cemetery is only for Orthodox Jews and cremation is not permitted.

According to this article, the "all-inclusive" cemetery means that Jews (and non-Jewish family members) of all denominations can be buried side-by-side in a recognised Jewish burial ground for the first time in Gloucestershire county. It will be dedicated on April 19.

The chair of the community, David Naydor, was quoted:

"We aim to offer an inclusive brand of Judaism, which includes giving our members a choice when they die. Jews in the county can now be buried next to husbands, wives and family members of other religions in an all-encompassing Jewish cemetery.

"It also allows for cremation, something which is not an option for orthodox Jews."

Read the complete story at the link above.

Venezuela: Jewish Cemeteries of Caracas

This is one of a series of posts about Venezuela's Jewish cemeteries.

Venezuela is located at the northern end of South America, covers some 912,050 sq.km. and has about 30 million inhabitants. The capital, Caracas, is located in the central-north and is the country's biggest and busiest city. It is also the center of the Jewish community.

The Jewish community of Caracas numbers about 10,000 members, has more than 20 synagogues, a Jewish day school, a Jewish community center and three main cemeteries ("Guarenas," "Cementerio General del Sur" and "Cementerio Del Este").

Each cemetery has different sections under the administration of the three main synagogues (see below):

The Ashkenazi synagogues are UIC and Rabinato; AIV is Sephardi.

The Cementerio General del Sur is the oldest and largest. It contains four Jewish sections: UIC manages two, Aiv one and Rabinato one.

One of UIC's sections is the oldest cemetery in Caracas, containing about 30 tombstones dating from 1930.

The other UIC section opened in 1937, with the burial of Rebeca Hoires on December 5, 1937.

Currently there are 2,365 graves and although there is room for a few more, it is being replaced by the Guarenas cemetery "Gan Menucha," which opened with Adam Slimak's burial on April 17, 1997. Currently, there are about 300 graves, with room for up to 3,000.

The AIV section contains some 180 graves from 1953-1971. It is no longer used and has been replaced by the Cementerio del Este with about 500 graves.

The Rabinato section is still in use. The first burial was Abraham Lederman on October 18, 1972. Currently, there are 755 graves with room for up to 1,500.

Jewish burials in Venezuela are usually scheduled from morning until about 3pm, and the tombstone is usually unveiled 11 months after the burial. From the time of the burial to the unveiling, the deceased's family does not generally visit the cemetery.

Tombstones are inscribed in Spanish with Hebrew used to write the deceased's names and dates. The family may also choose to include a few lines about the person and/or a Psalm.

The majority of tombstones have, at the rear, a very small "house" to light a candle in memory of their relative's soul. It is a Jewish custom to leave a small stone or pebble on the tombstone after visiting a grave.

For more information, click on the following links:
Unión Israelita de Caracas
Asociación Israelita de Venezuela
Cementerio Del Este (Aerial view)
Cementerio Del Sur (Aerial view)

Israel: Rachel's Tomb

1910 view

This week, we read the Torah portion וישלך Vayishlach, Genesis 32:4-36:43 throughout the Jewish world.

In this text, we read about the death and burial of our Biblical Matriarch Rachel. She dies while giving birth to Benjamin, and is buried by her grieving husband Jacob. In Genesis 35:20, Jacob buries her and sets up a pillar over her grave. It is located on the northern entrance of Bethlehem, adjacent to the neighborhood of Gilo.

Rachel’s tomb has been mentioned by Jewish travelers since about 1300 CE. The actual tomb consists of a rock with 11 stones; one for each of the sons of Jacob. Over the centuries, the rock was covered by a dome supported by four arches. In 1841, Sir Moses Montefiore was granted permission by the occupying Ottoman Turkish empire to restore the tomb. He funded the construction of the large two room building seen today.


This Biblical cairn or pile of stones was a precursor of today’s more familiar markers. It continues to be the Jewish custom to mark a grave with a monument.

The dedication or unveiling of a grave stone is a custom that can be held anytime after the Shloshim (30 day mourning period). Sephardi Jews commonly dedicate the stone soon after the conclusion of the Shloshim, which is also the custom of many Ashkenazi Jews in Israel.

Ashkenazim in the Diaspora (outside the Land of Israel) often dedicate the monument near the first Yahrtzeit (Yiddish, the anniversary of death.)

Rabbi Gary M. Gans

Guess who's buried in a Jewish cemetery?

In this series of life’s surprises, I will begin to offer an intriguing array of celebrities and the infamous who are buried in Jewish cemeteries!

Along the way, I also hope to teach a bit about Jewish burial customs - as my grandfather would say, “for the same price.”

Who can forget where they were on November 22, 1963 when Lee Harvey Oswald assassinated President John F. Kennedy? A more difficult task may be trying to remember who you were with two days later when Lee Harvey Oswald himself was killed by Jack Ruby.

I was at a Philadelphia Eagles football game standing on line to enter the old Franklin Field when we heard the news. I remember the first comments I heard from my father, “Are you kidding, someone killed Oswald?” and “I hope he’s not Jewish!”

Live on TV that Sunday morning in a Dallas police station, Jack Ruby certainly killed the presidential assassin - and, yes, he was in fact a member of our tribe.

Ruby died in prison of lung cancer on January 3, 1967. All Jews are equal in death and he was no exception. He is buried at Chicago's Westlawn Cemetery. Below is his traditional tombstone with the inscription “Beloved Son and Brother JACK RUBY April 25, 1911- January 3, 1967.”

At the bottom of the marker is the Hebrew acronym found on many Jewish graves, TAV NUN TZADI BET HEY, translated as, “May His Soul be Bound into the Bonds of Life Eternal.” Even a convicted murderer is given a blessing at his death!

The fine folks at http://www.findagrave.com/ will even show you the plot number and gps coordinates.

If you have suggestions of unusual Jews and their grave sites to analyze, please contact me at firstrabbiinrabbitworld@gmail.com

Rabbi Gary M. Gans

A graveyard rabbit?

I must confess that I had never heard this term before and, each time I write this phrase, I tend to write "rabbi" instead of "rabbit," which is appropriate for a blog focused on Jewish cemeteries.

Fellow geneablogger Terry Thornton is the founder of the Association of Graveyard Rabbits. The term comes from a poem - The Graveyard Rabbit - by Frank Lebby Stanton. Terry has the complete poem on his website. Here are two verses:

In the white moonlight, where the willow waves,
He halfway gallops among the graves---
A tiny ghost in the gloom and gleam,
Content to dwell where the dead men dream,

Over the shimmering slabs he goes---
Every grave in the dark he knows;
But his nest is hidden from human eye
Where headstones broken on old graves lie.

The premise for the association is that member blogs will be devoted exclusively to cemeteries, grave markers, burial customs and thus promote the study of cemeteries, the preservation of cemeteries, and transcription of genealogical/historical information that may be found in cemeteries.

Although the association has asked member blogs to focus on a limited scope, the Jewish Graveyard Rabbit will be somewhat different.

The JGR will be international in scope, with a team of contributors providing expert knowledge of cemeteries around the world in all countries, preservation/restoration projects, Jewish burial and mourning customs, Jewish tombstone symbols and how to read a Hebrew tombstone to learn what genealogical information may be gleaned. Where differences exist, the blog will address Ashkenazi, Sephardi and Mizrahi customs and issues. Photographs will be included, as well as extensive links to sites providing relevant Jewish cemetery information.

A team of writers is being gathered, and others are invited to contribute appropriate postings. If you would like to be part of this effort, email jgrarab@yahoo.com, provide contact details, proposed topic/country, etc.

We are looking forward to this new endeavor and invite you to join as contributor or reader.

Welcome,
Schelly Talalay Dardashti