Friends of New Jersey Jewish Cemeteries, Inc.
(a.k.a. Friends for Preservation of Middlesex County Jewish Cemeteries, Inc.)
NEWARK JEWISH CEMETERIES
Newark Jewish Cemeteries, which cover more than 60 acres in 5 geographic areas of Greater Newark and include more than 110 individual cemeteries, represent an important part of our history and heritage and serve as the final resting place for about 150,000 people. Each individual cemetery was started by a Jewish organization (synagogue, fraternal lodge, landsmannschaft, mutual aid society, burial society, benevolent society, trade union, etc.) whose members had emigrated from Europe and settled in Greater Newark. Only two of these individual cemeteries are currently owned by organizations that are still active today -- both synagogues; all of the other organizations have become defunct, leaving their cemeteries behind and underfunded. If you or anyone in your family lived in Newark, Elizabeth, Irvington, Maplewood, Hillside, or other neighboring cities), the images in the slide show above will bring back many memories from your childhood. The thriving Jewish communities living in Greater Newark around 1950 no longer live there, but their cemeteries remain as a vivid reminder of our history and heritage — deserving dignity, respect, and the funds necessary to keep them in the condition they deserve.
Recognizing both the importance of preserving these cemeteries and the enormity of the challenge, Jewish Federation of Greater MetroWest and Sanford B. Epstein, Inc. are working together to restore and maintain the Newark Jewish Cemeteries. The Community Relations Committee of Greater MetroWest NJ sponsors Newark Cemetery Visiting Day annually, and investment income from the Beth El Memorial Park Foundation provides funding for some cemetery repairs. Because the immediate needs for repairs are so great at Newark Jewish Cemeteries, we have added these cemeteries as partners. Our goal is to raise funds that can be used both immediately and in the future at Newark Jewish Cemeteries — to honor those interred there with the dignity they deserve.
Newark Jewish Cemeteries present many opportunities to honor and remember the vibrant Jewish Community of Newark, and you can visit these cemeteries in several ways:
Take a Virtual Cemetery Tour using the slide show on this page.
Take a Real Cemetery Tour with a group of friends or relatives on Newark Cemetery Visiting Day.
Take an Aerial Cemetery Tour every time you fly into or out of Newark Liberty Airport (EWR) — especially if you have a window seat — since all flights provide a few minutes of prime viewing and a chance to remember these communities and these cemeteries (as soon as it becomes safe to travel again).
Take a Driving Cemetery Tour in your car before daytime departures or after daytime arrivals at Newark Liberty Airport (EWR) to see these cemeteries and their memorable entry gates as another reminder of the rich history of the Newark Jewish community (as soon as it becomes safe to travel again).
These cemeteries are in need of ongoing and future maintenance and repairs, and we hope we can count on your support.
The list below includes the many individual cemeteries, grouped by geographic areas, that comprise Newark Jewish Cemeteries:
