Page 15-THE NEWS-Aprll, 1984
Charlotte Hebrew Cemetery Association “ Past^ Present, Future
Some “Final Words” or the
pasty present, and future of our
Charlotte Hebrew Cemetery
Association
By Morris Speizman
We Jews have always been
in the “real estate” business.
Abraham,' the very first Jew,
purchased a small piece of land
at Machpelah in which to inter
the body of his wife, Sarah.
That was over 4,000 years ago.
Jews have followed the same
custom of finding a holy
resting place for their deceas
ed as one of the first prere
quisites of any organized
Jewish community.
Charlotte is no exception to
this tradition. In December
1870, the Hebrew Benevolent
Society was organized to pur
chase land for a cemetery and
to operate a final resting place
for the Jewish residents of our
area. The original eleven acres
purchased at a cost of $25 per
acre was subsequently enlarg
ed by the purchase of addi-
tiontd adjacent land so that
the cemetery now contains ap
proximately fifteen to seven
teen acres in all.
The ACT TO INCORPOR
ATE THE HEBREW BENE
VOLENT SOCIETY OF THE
CITY OF CHARLOTTE, N.C.
was actually ratified at the
General Assembly in Raleigh
on December 24, 1870. The
original incorporators included
B. Koopmann, S. Frankford,
S.A. Cohen, E. Nathans, J.
Roessler, J. Rintels, Samuel
Cohen, S. Frankenthal, D.
Elias, S. Bauman,, H.
Frankenthal and D. Blum.
By the early 1920’s, the
original members of the
Hebrew Benevolent Society
had been gathered unto their
fathers. Only Will Weill, a son-
in-law of H. Bumgarten, was
left. (Incidentally, his family
had converted to the Christian
faith.) He was the de facto
head of the Hebrew Cemetery
Association in more ways than
one. According to the late
Alfred E. Smith, he ran it in
every way, including the
finances, etc.
During the early 1930's, at
Mrs. Jay Hirshinger’s sugges
tion, M.B. Smith, Arthur
Goodman, Sr., and others, ar
ranged to honor Will Weill at
a banquet. During the course
of the evening, expansive and
complimentary speeches were
made and he was presented
with a diamond studded gold
fountain pen. At this point,
Mr. Goodman proposed that
the first act of Mr. Weill with
his new pen would be to sign
a deed turning the cemetery
over to the newly named
Hebrew Cemetery Associa
tion. Mr. Weill acceded to this
request whereupon Mr. Good
man stated that this honor
should be shared by someone
who was equally interested in
the welfare of Charlotte.
Before M. Weill could take
umbrage at this diminution of
his prestige, Mr. Goodman
added, “I refer, of course, to
your charming wife.’' Both
husband and wife duly signed
the document, and the tract of
land and its holy contents
legally became the possession
of a city-wide Jewish organiza
tion. It wasn’t until 1971,
however, that the official
charter of the cemetery was
amended to carry the new
name.
In passing, it seems that
Mr. Weill incurred about $500
in debts. The Sisterhood of the
Hebrew United Brotherhood
(now Temple Israel) gracious
ly loaned the money to the
Hebrew Cemetery Association
to repay Mr. WeUl. There is no
record of this money ever hav
ing been paid back to the good
ladies on West 7th Street.
Since that time, the welfare
of the Cemetery was taken
care of in turn by Morris Ben
jamin Smith, and later his son,
Alfred E. Smith, both of whom
spent many, many years see
ing to it that the Hebrew
Cemetery in Charlotte was a
place to be proud of, as part of
our Jewish heritage.
In addition to the Smith
SPECIAL NOTICE
Graduation is just around the corner. As has been
our policy in the past we print a listing of our high
school and college graduates in our June/July issue.
Please let us know by no later than May 5 your
child’s name, the school from which she/he is
graduating, whether they are going on with their
education (and where), what degree they are receiv
ing and if they are graduating with honors. It’s a
proud day for them and the “CJN” would like to
honor them.
Kindly send all information to the attention of:
Editor, Charlotte Jewish News, P.O. Box 220188,
Charlotte, NC 28222.
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Mary Trances Miller
Antiques
Complementing accessories of brass, Staffordshire, Orientals, etc.
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Residence (704) 378-6926
family, there have been many
dedicated volunteers who
acted as officers and members
of the Board of the Charlotte
Hebrew Cemetery over the
years.
At the present time, the of
ficers are as follows:
Hilbert Fuerstman, President
Nat H. Roberts, Vice Pres.
Morris Speizman, Treasurer
Leslie Cohen, Secretary.
The Board members include:
Ellis Berlin
Herman Blumenthal
Phil GuUer
Steven Hockfield
Ben Jaffa, Sr.
Leonard Madans
Paul Ostrow
Elliott Schwartz
Marc Silverman
George Ackerman
M. Benjamin Sinkoe
Maurice Weinstein
Abe Bober
Rabbi Harold Krantzler
Rabbi Richard Rocklin
Rabbi Robert Seigel
Dr. Mark Perlin
A1 Gordon
Jerome Levin
Ted Holt
S.S. Fligel (CPA) serves as
independent auditor.
The Cemetery consists of
two sections. The oldest sec
tion on which the tombstones
are permitted, is practicsdly
filled.
The remaining five to ten
acres which are still available
are designed for use as a
memorial park (without
headstones).
At the present time, we are
experiencing approximately
12 to 20 funerals per year. On
this basis, it would probably
take three generations to fill
up the balance of the memorial
park. However, with an ac
celerated rate of increase in
our population, and the “gray
ing of America,” it may be a
matter of two generations
rather than three before the
Cemetery is completely filled.
Richard Melenson is the Ex
ecutive Director of the
Cemetery and is assisted in
his duties by a foreman and a
laborer. From time to time, ex
tra help is needed to take care
of emergencies and for servic
ing and beautifying the
grounds.
The major problem which is
incurred in operating the
Cemetery by our volunteer
group is that of finances. It
costs approximately $40,000 a
year to maintain the Cemetery
and pay the salaries, etc., for
the personnel involved. A
modest allocation from the
Charlotte Jewish Federation
helps defray the costs of
burials for indigents, etc.
At present, only 15% of the
estimated 1,200 families in
Charlotte are members of the
Hebrew Cemetery Association
and pay $25 per year dues.
The cost of plots to members
is approximately one-half the
price charged to non-members.
Every Jewish member of the
community should belong to
the Cemetery because this is a
fundamental obligation of
Jews down through the ages.
Our Cemetery is not a
“popular” cause, nor one in
which we can raise vast
amounts of money through
voluntary means. It is,
however, a basic part of our
Jewish community, and as
such, deserves the support of
every Jew in the Charlotte and
surrounding communities.
^*Ninety Days For Renewal**
“Ninety Days for
Renewal,” an intensive pro
gram designed to heighten
community awareness of the
United Jewish Appeal’s Pro
ject Renewal campaign nation
wide, was unveiled by Bernard
M. Waldman, UJA National
Project Renewal Chairman.
Waldman stated that the
program, which will be im
plemented in communities
from San Diego to Boston
throughout the spring, offers
communities “a unique oppor
tunity to join in a national out
pouring of support for a pro
gram which is improving the
quality of life for more than
300.000 Israelis, including
200.000 children, living in
Israel’s older, immigrant
neighborhoods. ’ ’
Waldman said that a
number of communities have
already scheduled events to in
corporate into their local cam
paigns. In Boston eind Oak
land, the Jewish communities
are conducting Major Gifts
Missions to Israel, with
minimum gifts of $10,000 to
Project Renewal. Twelve other
communities, including
Albany, Richmond and Pitts
burgh, will participate in
“reverse missions,” in which
representatives from Project
Renewal neighborhoods will
visit their twinned American
communities and take part in
various fundraising events.
The community of Metro-
West, New Jersey, will be par
ticipating in a month of inten
sive Renewal programming
that includes parlor solicita
tions, educating and soliciting
local congregations, and
special activities for young
people to encourage their in
volvement in Project Renewal.
In St. Louis, the Jewish youth
community will be running a
“people to people” program in
which 1500 loced youths have
been photographed and paired
with the same number of
youngsters in their Renewal
community of Tiberias. They
will participate in a Walk for
Israel marathon, with the pro
ceeds designated for Tiberias.
In addition, they will be in
volved in pen-p^ correspon
dence £Uid other activities with
their Israeli counterparts.
“These are examples,”
Waldman said, “of the
creativity, commitment and
excitement that Project
Renewal has generated both in
American Jewish communities
and in their twinned Israeli
neighborhoods.”
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