OUR MISSION

Friends for Preservation of Middlesex County Jewish Cemeteries, Inc. was created to (1) raise funds for the restoration and maintenance of the cemeteries originally owned by Congregation Shaarey Tefiloh in Perth Amboy, NJ and now owned by the Shaarey Tefiloh Cemetery Association and (2) implement the restoration and maintenance of these cemeteries using these funds. Our organization recognized that (1) the funds of these cemeteries had become insufficient to provide appropriate cemetery maintenance forever, (2) the generation that created these cemeteries is deceased, and (3) future generations will be less able than the current generation to effect these goals. Because the generation of the organizers of Friends for Preservation of Middlesex County Jewish Cemeteries, Inc. had roots in Perth Amboy and the surrounding communities, as well as memories and respect for these cemeteries and those interred there, this generation was uniquely qualified and obligated to achieve these goals.

Friends for Preservation of Middlesex County Jewish Cemeteries, Inc. became Friends of New Jersey Jewish Cemeteries, Inc. (a.k.a. Friends for Preservation of Middlesex County Jewish Cemeteries, Inc.) in 2019, when it expanded its mission to raise funds for additional Jewish cemeteries in New Jersey:

• Shaarey Tefiloh Cemeteries (our original partner — in Perth Amboy and Woodbridge)

• Newark Jewish Cemeteries (in Newark)

• North Arlington Jewish Cemeteries (in North Arlington)

• Beth David Memorial Park (in Kenilworth)

• Samptown Jewish Cemetery (in South Plainfield)

Our primary mission has always been charitable (raising funds for underfunded cemeteries), and this primary mission has always been supported and supplemented by our educational mission (educating people about cemetery history and customs through tours and publications, as well as educating people about the history of each cemetery's Jewish Community — in which we take great pride).