Jewish cemetery association expands role as graves outlast communities
When a group of Russian Jewish immigrants formed the Anshe Lubovitz congregation in the Hill District in the early 1900s, one of their first tasks was to find a place to bury their dead. That cemetery, located in Shaler, has now long outlasted the congregation itself, which disbanded in the mid-20th century.
Those with family ties to the congregation have ensured it has been maintained over the decades.
There are dozens of similar Jewish cemeteries throughout the TriState area, some of them tucked in urban lots, little noticed by passing drivers, some in rural locations.
Now the Jewish Cemetery and Burial Association, which has already managed some of the region’s cemeteries, is expanding its role, offering to assume ownership or management of cemeteries that in many cases have outlasted the communities that once could support them.
“A congregation, a building of bricks and mortar, can disappear, but a cemetery cannot,” said Bob Katzen, who has been overseeing maintenance of the Anshe Lubovitz Cemetery for more than four decades, inheriting the role his own father held for years before that. “The cemetery still remains.”
But Mr. Katzen, who just turned 80, said he’s grateful that the association assumed management earlier this year.
“There’s some history to this,” he said of the 110-yearold cemetery. “That’s why we decided it’s time to add some community stability to the maintenance and care of it.”
That’s the goal of the expanded program, said Barry Rudel, executive director of the association.
There is a “deep connectedness that the people feel with their cemetery, with sometimes the cemetery being the last manifestation of the congregation, society, organization, and in some cases, the whole community,” he said. “These are memories here.”
The association — formed in 1992 through the merger of two older organizations — currently manages Jewish cemeteries ranging from the Mon Valley to Beaver County to Steubenville, Ohio. Some of the cemeteries were created by congregations; others were created by local Jewish communities or by fraternal societies such as the Workman’s Circle, an early 20th century socialist fraternity.
The association is expanding its role to ensure that historic cemeteries aren’t neglected as they outlive the institutions and immediate family members who were once associated with them.
To respond to this need, the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh worked with the association to expand its reach, and the Jewish Community Foundation granted it $450,000 to get started. Mr. Rudel became the association’s first fulltime executive director in March.
A 1998 survey by the Rauh Jewish Archives identified 78 Jewish cemeteries in Western Pennsylvania, with more than 50,000 burial records.
“Now is the time for us to assist the many communities and congregations in the region that have either closed or see the need to transition their cemetery management and operations to another entity,” said Gregory Engel, president of the association.
The association now oversees the care of 15 cemeteries, in some cases assuming ownership, such as with Anshe Lubovitz, in other cases agreeing with the longtime owners to manage and maintain the cemeteries.
“It’s not an all-or-nothing arrangement,” Mr. Rudel said. “Some cemeteries want to maintain ownership.”
Among its cemeteries is Chesed Shel Emeth — located in Shaler next to Anshe Lubovitz. Chesed Shel Emeth is used for burials for needy persons, and its modest grave markers include one for prayer books and other sacred objects that are buried respectfully when they are no longer used.
This effort also responds to a wider trend in the region, with numerous congregations closing in small cities with declining populations and industries, and as Jewish families relocate to new communities.
In the case of Anshe Lubovitz, Mr. Katzen recalled that his father, Nate Katzen, took on the volunteer role of maintaining the cemetery where his forebears are buried after the congregation closed, working alongside another former member, Bill Weiner.
When the elder Mr. Katzen retired to Florida, the son assumed the role, working with fellow longtime volunteer Arthur Smith, who was related to Mr. Weiner by marriage.
Bob Katzen said his father “made it quite easy for me” because he and Mr. Weiner raised funds for the cemetery’s perpetual care, which funded lawn mowing, maintenance of gravestones and the removal of weeds and tree debris.
He’s glad that by ensuring the graves are maintained, so will the memory of the generations buried there.
“These were very brave people who left their homes and came to the United States and made a new life for their families,” he said.