The Charlotte Jewish News - August 2018 - Page 14
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3802 Columbine Circle
704-366-6765
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SARAH ROSE STEVE LEPOW
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704 619-0422 704 975-8500
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Executive
Applications for the 2019
Jewish Federation of Greater Charlotte
Impact and Innovation Fund
are now available.
The Jewish Federation’s impact and innovation
Fund distributes grants that are intended to
inspire individuais, organizations, synagogues,
and agencies to provide innovative and
impactfui engagement opportunities for the
greater Chariotte Jewish community.
For more information or to receive an
application, please contact the
Federation office, 704.944.6757
www.jewishcharlotte.org
Jewish Federation
OF GREATER CHARLOTTE
Learning from the Past, Planning for the
Future
By Sandra Goldman, Director
I recently attended the Jewish
Cemetery Association of North
America Conference in Massa
chusetts. Because of its rich his
tory, Boston was the perfect site
for a conference. I first enjoyed a
tour of the old part of the city, in
cluding a walking tour of the Old
Granary Cemetery. It was very
special to stand in front of the
burial grounds of Samuel Adams,
Paul Revere, John Hancock, and
“Mother Goose.”
Next stop was the first Jewish
cemetery in Massachusetts in
East Boston: Temple Ohabei Sha
lom. I was stunned to hear that
The Commonwealth did not grant
Jews full rights of citizenship un
til 1821. Jews were actually not
allowed to be buried in Boston
until 1842, when ten men found
ed the first Jewish congregation.
Back at the center we enjoyed
listening to the keynote speak
er, Rabbi Daniel Cohen, a well-
known Rabbi tfom Hartford, CT.
He spoke about leading a life of
legacy. Rabbi Cohen’s talk was
very inspirational as he discussed
how we all can lead our lives ev
ery day with a sense of urgency
and how we can create a sacred
space to reflect on who we are and
who we want to be so that we may
realize our innermost goals and
dreams. Rabbi Cohen reminded
the attendees that Jewish destiny
will not fail partly because Jewish
cemetery directors are important
guardians of Jewish traditions.
During the remainder of the
conference we heard about the
Jewish Community Legacy Proj
ect (JCLP). This is a resource for
small congregations located out
side of metropolitan areas that
have an aging population, dwin
dling leadership, and a desire to
insure their legacy. By acting as
a liaison between such congre
gations and a variety of partners,
JCLP facilitates actions to focus
on short-term sustainability and
long-term planning to cover per
petual care of a cemetery, pre
serving historic documents, and
artifacts reflecting the interests
and values of each community
separately.
We were fascinated to learn
tfom the director of Mount Au
burn Cemetery (the first large
scale cemetery in America, found
ed in 1831) in Cambridge. Mount
Auburn cemetery is more than ten
times larger than our cemetery
and has committed to improve the
experience of its 200,000 annual
visitors. This amazing cemetery
engages the public and academics
and historians to interpret the art
otf and on the monuments. Mount
Auburn uses an app to connect
with the public. We can’t wait to
share similar information once
the Hebrew Cemetery’s new cem
etery software program is up and
running.
I attended a workshop with
the New England Historic Gene
alogical Society and Jewish Her
itage Center, focused on how to
research family history. I learned
about genealogical resources and
available collections. The Jewish
Heritage Center was founded in
1845 and is the country’s largest
and oldest nonprofit genealogy
library and archive. These two
entities explore and preserve
the histories of Jewish families
and institutions in New England
and really around the world. If
you want to find your fami
ly, they will help you. These
are valuable website for your
search: www.Familysearch.org;
www.Americanancestors.org;
www.jgsny.org.
In addition to cemetery spe
cific issues I was also briefed
on cybersecurity and fraud.
We all have been using fire
walls, antivirus programs, data
encryption, and great policies
and procedures but it still is not
enough. A large amount of time
was allotted to discuss
how to reduce risk.
To lighten things up
we all went on a tour to
Wayland, a fairly new
Jewish cemetery and
took a guided tour to
Lexington and Concord.
I walked along the his
toric Battle Road, fol
lowed Revere’s midnight
ride, and stopped along
Minute Man Nation
al Historical Park and
heard about the events
of April 19,1775 at Con
cord’s Old North Bridge
that lead to the Revolu
tionary War that led to
our independence.
These few days gave
me a chance to learn,
connect and network with ceme
tery directors around the country.
The conference reminded me that
every generation of Jews faces its
own challenges of how to recon
cile ancient traditions with mod
em new views. By continuing to
honor our departed loved ones
and celebrate their lives, our be
loved Hebrew cemetery has em
braced the entire community and
fulfilled our varied needs.
For further questions or re
quests please contact me at di-
rector(a)hebrewcemetery.org or at
704-576-1859.*:*
The cemetety at Temple Ohabei Shalom.
Sandra at Concord’s Old North Bridge, site of
the “shot heard ‘round the world. ”
Paul Revere’s burial place.
Gravesite of British soldiers from the Revolutionary War.
Hebrew Cemetery
of Greater Charlotte
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