What Makes a Cemetery Jewish?
What Makes a Cemetery Jewish?
. "The Jewish Way in Death and Mourning" by Maurice Lamm offers the following criteria for determining a proper burial place for Jews:
- The purchase contract should stipulate that the area of the plot is designed exclusively for Jews.
- Burial rights must be permanent. The cemetery corporation should not be permitted to exercise any authority with regard to the removal of the remains from any grave.
- All facilities for Jew and non-Jew must be absolutely separate -- with separate entrance gates, and with each section fenced completely.
"The American Jewish Desk Reference" states: The cemetery comprises a specific set of Jewish tradition and customs connected to the burial of the dead. Known in Hebrew as "bet kevarot", place of the graves, and "bet olam", house of eternity, the land of the cemetery is usually considered holy and a special consecration ceremony reserved for Jews takes place on its inauguration. Establishing a cemetery is one of the first and highest priorities for a new Jewish community, and a Jewish cemetery is generally purchased and supported with communal funds.