December 5, 2012
(21 Kislev, 5773) |
This is a publication
of the JCAM Charitable Foundation, Inc.
a 501c3 charitable organization dedicated
to the development, investment and disbursement
of charitable funds for Jewish educational
and historical purposes
in Massachusetts.
189 Wells Avenue
Newton, MA 02459
617-244-6509
www.jcam.org |
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Honoring The 'Forgotten' Children
Brick-by-Brick
Sponsor Memorial Bricks for 1,200+
Who Have No Marker or Headstone
There is no greater mitzvah than to perform gemilut chasidim (acts of loving kindness). To memorialize a name in perpetuity is especially fitting - and a meaningful Chanukah gift!
This you can do now by clicking here to sponsor a memorial brick marker honoring one of the hundreds of "Forgotten Children" at the Hebrew Charitable Burial Ground in Malden, the second oldest Jewish cemetery in Massachusetts, dating to 1851.
Our "brick-by-brick" memorial campaign is part of our $100,000 effort to restore this cemetery that was the primary site for indigent Jewish immigrant burials -- most of whom were children -- in the late 1800s and early 1900s. At that time, it was much more common for parents to bury their children. The infant mortality rate then was 10 percent, while today it is 0.6 percent.
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New Entry Gate and Memorial Sculpture to the "Forgotten Children" were installed in October 2012.
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Dr. Jonathan D. Sarna, Joseph H. & Belle R. Braun Professor of American Jewish History at Brandeis University, explains that this was an era before inoculation, and diseases such as tuberculosis, measles, mumps, flu, whooping cough, diphtheria, pneumonia, polio, rubella, tetanus, and scarlet fever could prove fatal.
Large families were sought, in part because not all children were expected to live to adulthood. Poverty, hunger, and poor nutrition made immigrant families even more susceptible to disease, Sarna said.
This is an historic opportunity to symbolically mark and honor the name of a Jewish child and family that bravely sought a new life in this country. More than two-thirds of those buried here died at less than 5 years old. And, fewer than 10% have monuments or markers. The rest are in unmarked graves. The brick-by-brick program will ensure each and every person in the cemetery is appropriately honored for all time.
As you donate to the brick-by-brick campaign, you may choose a name to memorialize (or have us choose a name for you at random). Donations ($118 per brick) can be made online at our Web site, or you can download a Brick-By-Brick donation form and mail it in with a check.
Help us to dignify the life of a forgotten child and restore an historic Jewish cemetery brick-by-brick. In doing so, we dignify our own lives by performing lasting acts of loving kindness.
To learn more about the JCAM Charitable Foundation's plans for this historic cemetery, please see the story on our Web site from coverage in The Jewish Advocate. Also see my interview with Rabbi Ronne Friedman (Temple Israel in Boston) on the Ch. 7 Sunday show "Jewish Perspectives" as we discuss this restoration project.
Shalom,
 Stan Kaplan
Executive Director
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