The Charlotte Jewish News - February 2011 - Page 8
Hebrew Cemetery Association
By Lorrie Klemons, publicity
Jewish tradition calls for Jews
to bury our own and it is the obli
gation of every Jewish community
to do so. This obligation, however,
does not come without a high
price tag.
Although the Charlotte Jewish
community has historically pros
pered and flourished, the hard eco
nomic times our country has suf
fered has greatly impacted our
community and the level of giving
that it once was so committed to.
No Jewish agency has been
untouched by the effects of the
economic downturn and the
Charlotte Hebrew Cemetery
Association is no exception.
As a non-profit organization,
the Hebrew Cemetery depends
largely on donations, annual mem
bership dues and the sale of graves
for the resources needed to main
tain the sanctified grounds of the
cemetery in perpetuity for all
those who precede us in eternal
life. The Cemetery Association’s
mission is a commitment to God’s
commandment that we bury our
own, and the cemetery has done
so, regardless of the deceased
individual or family’s ability to
pay. The Cemetery Association
has long struggled with the issue
of the burial of indigent Jews and
the current reality is that this mitz-
vah is becoming more and more
difficult to do as inflation contin
ues to drive prices up, while the
horrific economy drives donations
down. The total cost of a funeral
today ranges from $6,000 -
$11,000 and obviously no one
organization can handle that bur
den on its own.
The cemetery is
leading a community
wide approach to deal
with this dilemma. The
Jewish Federation of
Charlotte, along with
the Temples and Jewish
Family Services, are all
working cooperatively
to create a common
plan in order to meet
the crisis. Currently,
Jewish Federation funds about
10% of the overall operating
budget of the cemetery which
allows some measure of assis
tance. In addition, Jewish Family
Services qualifies individuals as to
the level of need and pays towards
the cost of burial. Local funeral
homes also help. The point is,
however, that due to rising ceme
tery costs and concerns of elder
care givers for end of life plan
ning, we need a community wide
participatory plan sooner rather
than later No one organization can
handle the mitzvah of burying our
own when the very minimal cost
for an indigent burial is $6,000.
As a means of proactively
meeting this great challenge head
on, Mr. Norman Steinberger has
created and endowed the
Steinberger Funeral Assistance
Fund. The goal of this fund is for
it to be the collection point for
monies collected specifically for
sjs
Hebrew
Cemetery
Association
the fulfillment of the command
ment to bury our own and it will
become the distribution point to
cover all indigent burial expenses,
including funeral serv
ice, grave, grave mark
ers and perpetual care.
In the secular world,
February is Random
Acts of Kindness
month. In the Jewish
world everyday is a day
for G’melut Hasadim
(loving acts of kind
ness). To show your
own loving act of kind
ness, make a donation today to the
Steinberger Funeral Assistance
Fund. Send your checks payable
to the Hebrew Cemetery and ear
marked for the Steinberger
Funeral Assistance Fund directly
to the Charlotte Hebrew Cemetery
Association, 4229 Peggy Lane,
Charlotte, NC 28227.
For more information about
membership benefits, graves, pre
paid funeral costs, endowments,
and/or including the cemetery in
your estate planning, contact con
tact Cemetery Director, Sandra
Goldman at 704-576-1859 or 704-
944-6854 or director@hebrew-
cemetery.org.
Visit the cemetery website at
www.hebrewcemetery. org.
The cemetery would like to
thank Les Bergen for donations
made to the cemetery and to the
Steinberger Funeral Assistance
Fund in December. ^
Charlotte Photographer,
Donna Foster, Seeks Those
with Jewish (Yiddish or
Hebrew) Words on Vanity
License Plates
Award winning photographer,
Donna Foster, is seeking people
who have a vanity license plate
with Jewish (including Yiddish or
Hebrew) words on it for a project
on stories related to people’s vani
ty plates. According to Ms. Foster,
she wants to know the story some
one is trying to tell in only eight
letters.
Foster, a portrait photographer
is interested in people’s stories and
uses her camera to tell stories.
According to Donna, “Some car
tags are silly and some are serious
but all have a story behind them
and it’s the story that interests me.
As a photographer, and a Jewish
woman, this project let’s me con
tinue to focus on portraiture and
explore Jewish stories at the same
time.”
Donna was one of eight photog
raphers, who in 2005-06 docu
mented the daily lives of Jewish,
Christian and Muslim families for
the Families of Abraham project
that was first exhibited at the
Museum of the New South in
2006.
Donna Foster is based in
Charlotte, NC. She has studied
Cantor Roochvarg has one of the
license plates that photographer
Donna Foster has already pho
tographed for her Jewish Vanity Plate
project.
and worked in photography for
over 30 years and today is the
owner of a boutique style portrait
studio. Donna can be reached at
donna@donnafoster.com or 704-
525-5188 or donna@donnafos-
ter.com. ^
iEf
EWISH^
FEDERATION^
OF GREATER CHARLOTTE
www.jewishcharlotte.org
I grew up in a small town,
where I attended services
and celebrated holidays
with my family. As
I grew older, was
confirmed, married
and began my
own family, I
developed an
immense pride in
Judaism. I wanted
to instill this in my
children. I became
a religious school
teacher, where I
continued to learn as I
taught these wonderful
children, our next
generation. I hope I have
instilled the love and pride that I
feel, as we have celebrated our holidays,
learned about our rich traditions, and studied
the history that has brought us where we are
today. FRANCES LISS
Every day of the year, the Jewish Federation of Greater Charlotte works with hundreds of local, national and international agencies
to transfornn lives and deliver hope, dignity and connfort to nnillions of Jews here at honne, in Israel and around the world.
Please consider a gift to our 2011 Annual Cannpaign, and know that you're nnaking a difference in so nnany lives.
It's what being Jewish feels like.
I'm a
convert.
We belong
to Lubavitch.
I've been to Israel.
I have found a home!
MICHAEL RAFFLER