JCAM Plans New Web Site for Mystic River Jewish Community ProjectThrough this new Web site, you will be 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, 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. |
music, and business.
"Cemeteries Are For The Living"
Education Tours Booking
for Fall 2009 and Spring 2010
After another impressive year of participation in our Cemeteries Are for the Living tours, we're aiming to improve our offerings for our 2009-2010 cemetery education year.
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.
What Makes A Jewish Cemetery Jewish?
- A Jewish cemetery has physical boundaries that set the cemetery off from its surroundings, making it holy for Jews.
- A Jewish cemetery is considered consecrated ground where Jewish burial practices and customs are observed.
- A Jewish cemetery is owned by the Jewish community whose rules and regulations are governed by a duly authorized Board of Directors for Jewish cemetery purposes.
- Only Jewish symbols are permitted on a Jewish cemetery.
- Only Jewish clergy or lay people may officiate at a burial service or any other religious service on a Jewish cemetery.
- Perpetual care funds are managed by and for the care of the Jewish cemetery.
- The cemetery is closed on Shabbat and all major Jewish holidays.
Just as synagogues preserve Jewish continuity in life, so do Jewish cemeteries preserve Jewish continuity in the afterlife.
JCAM's 25th Anniversary
Commemorative Edition Guidebook
As part of it's 25th anniversary commemoration, the JCAM Charitable Foundation's newest edition of History & Guide: Massachusetts Jewish Cemeteries is available online. The Guide, complete with maps and directions to all 209 Jewish cemeteries in Massachusetts, also features the historical origins of the State’s Jewish cemeteries, dating as far back as 1844. Additionally, readers can learn how Jewish cemeteries got their names, who founded the cemeteries, and the significance of maintaining these “museums of memories” for future generations.
Click here to learn more about the Guide and how to get a copy!
JCAM Charitable Foundation Requests Another $50K
from the
MA Preservation Projects Fund
The Mass. Historical Commission is accepting applications for Round 15 of the MPPF (Mass. Preservation Projects Fund). JCAM, who was the recipient of a $50k matching grant in 2008, has submitted another grant request for additional funding to continue with the important structural rehabilitation of the Ohabei Shalom Chapel in East Boston. The Chapel, situated at the entrance to the first Jewish cemetery in Massachusetts (1844), has been undergoing a facelift through a $3.5 million capital campaign.
The once abandoned chapel will be transformed into a new exhibit hall dedicated to the early Jewish immigrant experience in Boston through interactive displays and artifacts. The Mystic River Jewish History Project will document and tell the story of the once flourishing Mystic River Jewish communities of East Boston, Chelsea, Revere, Medford, Malden, Everett, Somerville and Winthrop. A permanent exhibition will be featured in the restored Chapel as well as on a documentary video/internet site.
Read full story --->
Links
Photo Gallery – Cemetery Educational Tours
Jewish Cemetery Symbols Explained
Learn more about JCAM's 100+ cemeteries
Stained Glass at Ohabei Shalom Chapel in East Boston
Beit Olam East
Grave Sites Available
Learn about Jewish cemetery symbols
New! Pamphlet on Unveilings Available for download - click here