NEWS AND EVENTS

Check this page often for news updates and information about special events.

REAL CEMETERY TOURS

In response to excellent suggestions and requests we received from our supporters, we began a program of Cemetery Tours at the Shaarey Tefiloh Cemeteries in March 2006. These tours provided an excellent opportunity (1) to visit the graves of our loved ones; (2) to honor the memory of the entire Jewish Community of yesteryear; (3) to learn interesting historical information about these cemeteries, those interred there, and the community in which they lived; and (4) to observe the current condition of the cemeteries and our progress in restoring them. We included a few prayers at each cemetery, to enhance our memorial tribute, and we often followed our tour with a visit to a local restaurant, so that we could extend our reminiscing and socializing.  All tours were free, and all were welcome and invited to attend.

Our first tour program (in 2006) was very successful and popular, and we were sometimes accompanied by news reporters. Our final 2006 tour was covered by Channel 12 News. Many of our tours were especially rewarding, since many attendees invited their families to join them -- in some cases planning big family reunions around our cemetery tour. This enabled many to see cousins they hadn't seen for a long time and, in some cases, meet cousins they had never met before. We continued our cemetery tours several times each year through 2019, when we expanded our mission and added several cemetery partners. 

We canceled all of our cemetery tours during 2020 and 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but we resumed our cemetery tours in 2022 and expanded them to include all of our cemeteries. Our 2024 tours took place on the following dates at the locations indicated:

• June 2 (12 noon - 2 pm) - Shaarey Tefiloh Cemeteries (in Perth Amboy and Woodbridge)

• June 9 (12 noon - 2 pm) - McClellan Street section of Newark Jewish Cemeteries (in Newark)

• June 23 (12 noon - 2 pm) - Beth David Memorial Park (in Kenilworth)

• August 4 (12 noon - 2 pm) - Samptown Jewish Cemeteries (in South Plainfield) - weather cancellation

• August 11 (12 noon - 2 pm) - North Arlington Jewish Cemeteries (in North Arlington)

• October 6 (10 am - 1 pm) - Newark Jewish Cemeteries (in Newark)

We provided more details about these tours by email to all those on our emailing list. We request advance registration for all tours, so that we can provide all details and can notify all registrants of any weather-related cancellations.

The Community Relations Committee of Greater MetroWest NJ has sponsored Newark Cemetery Visiting Day annually, and we joined them at this year’s event on Sunday, October 6, 2024.

We plan to continue our Cemetery Tours in 2025, and we will announce the schedule early in 2025. We hope you will be able to join us at one or more of our tours, and we hope you will invite your friends and relatives to come too. We will provide additional information about these tours in the months ahead. Please check back for more information. Please also take virtual tours of our cemeteries on this website.

BIRTHDAY AND YAHRZEIT DONATIONS

If you can't visit the cemeteries for a real tour, be sure to take some of the virtual tours on this website. Anytime you can't visit the graves of your loved ones in person, you can visit them online through this website. Instead of placing a stone on the grave during a real visit, you can send a donation to Friends of New Jersey Jewish Cemeteries, Inc. in memory of your loved ones — before the holidays, on a birthday or Yahrzeit, or at any other time. We will gladly place a stone on the graves for you (when we can do so safely). We do not want to compete with any synagogues or other institutions to which you are sending Yahrzeit donations. Please continue to send those donations, which are important to you and the recipient institutions, but please consider this an additional opportunity to honor and remember your loved ones, worthy of an additional donation to Friends of New Jersey Jewish Cemeteries, Inc.

BAR AND BAT MITZVAH PROJECTS AND STUDENT COMMUNITY SERVICE PROJECTS

We welcome calls from any students seeking projects for their Bar or Bat Mitzvahs or for school community service.  We offer project ideas using our cemeteries to perform mitzvot and to learn about their heritage.  Any interested students should contact us through this website (by selecting "Contact Us" on the menu) or by phone (856-222-1418). 

OUR PARTNERS

Our cemetery partners include the following:

• Shaarey Tefiloh Cemeteries (in Perth Amboy and Woodbridge, Middlesex County)

• Newark Jewish Cemeteries (in Newark, Essex County)

• North Arlington Jewish Cemeteries (in North Arlington, Bergen County)

• Beth David Memorial Park (in Kenilworth, Union County)

• Samptown Jewish Cemetery (in South Plainfield, Middlesex County)

CURRENT PROJECTS

• Cemetery Registry:  Many genealogists suggested that we photograph and index all monuments at our cemeteries and provide these data to the JewishGen Online Worldwide Burial Registry (JOWBR).  We agreed that this was an important project and undertook this daunting task in early 2009.  We are very grateful to all of the volunteers who helped us with all aspects of this endeavor and are happy to report that this project has been completed.  We have provided the information on Shaarey Tefiloh's cemetery monuments, memorial plaques, and Yahrzeit cards to JewishGen.  Adding this information to the JOWBR database will memorialize forever the names and Yahrzeit dates of our community ancestors in a way that will make this information available to future generations.

• Perth Amboy Jewish History Book:  Perth Amboy's Jewish Community: History, Memories, Tribute is available for sale on this website. The authors collected a great deal of material and interviewed many people with stories, memories, and photos to share. According to the book’s authors, it was written “to honor our ancestors and to provide a lasting record for our descendants.” This book is an elegant 9x12 hardcover treasure you will want to own — and you will want your children and grandchildren to have their own copies.  If you are interested in purchasing this book or want more information about this book, please select “Perth Amboy History Book” on the top menu — under “Publications.”