Annual Book Burial
& Educational Tour
Set October 10, 2010

JCAM invites the community to be part of the meaningful and educational experience of a Jewish book burial. This year's event will be10 am at the King Solomon Memorial Park Cemetery at 2960 Centre Street in West Roxbury. Click here for more information and directions.

This event allows the community to witness and participate in the depth and importance of Jewish communal responsibility, and to learn about the proper handling of Jewish artifacts, prayer books and other shammot for burial.

Please RSVP to Lisa Berenson at 617-244-6509 or email: lisaberenson@jcam.org.

Please do not bring any boxes of books for burial unless you have made arrangements with the JCAM office in advance!

---

Consecration Planned
Sunday, November 7, 2010
for Beit Olam East Cemetery
in Wayland, MA

Construction is moving into the finishing stages at Beit Olam East Cemetery, the new interfaith cemetery in Wayland, MA. It will provide 7200 grave sites for both Reform and Conservative families.

Click here to see progress photos.

---

"Cemeteries Are For The Living"
Education Tours Booking
for Fall 2010

After another impressive year of participation in our Cemeteries Are for the Living tours, we're aiming to improve our offerings for the 2010-2011 cemetery education year.

This Spring, in addition to the many b'nai mitzvot children and their parents who participated in our tours, JCAM found a number of adult education groups interested in learning about the role Jewish cemeteries play in the rich history of Jewish Boston. JCAM is currently booking cemetery tours for the Fall 2010 season.

Specifically, we are planning tours by region around Boston to suit your specific needs and interests, offering tours at convenient and accessible locations, such as:

• Boston Area - Getting back to our roots begins in East Boston. Visit the first Jewish cemetery established in Massachusetts (1844)
• Metrowest - Visit Jewish cemeteries in the Natick or Wayland area
• North Shore – Tours to historic Jewish cemeteries in Woburn
• South Shore – Tour the unique Baker Street cemeteries in West Roxbury

Call us to develop a program specific to your group needs.

Click Here for More Details

---

Links

Photo Gallery – Cemetery Educational Tours

Jewish Cemetery Symbols Explained

Learn more about JCAM's 100+ cemeteries

---

JCAM Gets Strong Support
from the Community

JCAM received high praises and appreciation for its handling of the recent flooding of the Baker Street Cemeteries. It was a difficult time for both mourners and families who recently lost loved ones during the March-April heavy rains that left parts of the Baker Street Cemeteries under three feet of water for weeks. JCAM's commitment to serving the community's needs first, especially during times like what was recently experienced, is why the organization has continued on with its 25+ years of successful management of Jewish cemeteries in Massachusetts.

From Letters to the Editor, The Jewish Advocate, May, 14, 2010:

---

Burial of Non-Jewish Spouses
and Family Members
on Jewish Cemeteries

The Committee on Jewish Law and Standards of the Rabbinical Assembly (Conservative movement), recently published a Responsa regarding the burial of non-Jewish spouses and family members on Jewish cemeteries.

The Jewish Cemetery Association of Massachusetts has been ahead of the curve for over 10 years at its Beit Olam Cemetery in Wayland. In 1999, when the cemetery was consecrated, JCAM ensured that the burial of non-Jewish spouses and their children would be part of the religious regulations at this cemetery.

This responsa validates JCAM’s ongoing commitment to bury “non-Jewish dead and comfort their mourners so that we follow the ways of peace.”

JCAM is currently expanding the Beit Olam Cemetery with and additional 7,000 gravesites to accommodate the growing interfaith Jewish community.

To read the full 12-page Responsa, and other articles related to Interfaith families, please visit our web blog by clicking here.

---

JCAM Launches Web Site
for Mystic River Jewish Community Project

Through : mysticriverjews.jcam.org, you are transported back in time to a place where life along the Mystic River towns of East Boston, Chelsea, Everett, Revere, Medford, Malden, Somerville and Winthrop was bursting with Jewish life, culture,music, and business. The JCAM Charitable Foundation brings to life the sights, sounds and stories of these early Jewish immigrant communities to educate, promote, and strengthen the ongoing work of transforming the Ohabei Shalom Chapel in East Boston into the Mystic River Jewish Community Exhibit.  (The Ohabei Shalom Chapel is located on the grounds of the first Jewish cemetery in Massachusetts, founded in 1844).

The mission of the Mystic River Jewish Community Project is to preserve the history of Jewish life in these communities. While the chapel is undergoing restoration, this Web site will serve as the repository that chronicles the story of the Mystic River Jews and will also serve as a community space for the immigrant populations who currently reside in these communities to learn how valuable lessons of the past can shape their tomorrow.

The JCAM Charitable Foundation is committed to creating a present, living connection among residents of these towns across many generations and nationalities, united by experiences in places that can create social progress and social justice in present time.

We are actively collecting information in the form of documents, photographs and oral histories that are related to these once vibrant Jewish communities. We encourage you to contribute your own materials to this project – written, visual, and aural.  Our hope is that an exciting array of material and technologies will create an ongoing engagement of people, experiences, and ideas. For more information on how to contribute please contact us at 617-244-6509.