Dear Friends,
As you may have read in our last post, Kehilla’s Chevra Kadisha has been looking at securing a section at a nearby cemetery for our congregation. While there are several Jewish burial areas in the Bay Area, none have specifically Kehilla sections (or if needed for greater buying power, larger Jewish community sections). We have expanded our search to include green burial. We now need to hear from you about your desires and wishes for burial and cremation.
Please complete this short survey. It should take no more than ten minutes.
For clarification, we want to define three burial terms:
- Many cemeteries impose the use of a concrete liner, which is a five or six sided concrete box surrounding the coffin. We refer to these concrete-lined graves as ‘conventional’.
- ‘Traditional Jewish’ burial is done in an unlined grave.
- A ‘green burial’ is done in an unlined grave, and may also allow placement of the body in the grave without a casket.
We have identified four cemeteries that may either allow for a Kehilla specific or Jewish section and/or green burial:
- Mountain View in Oakland, with conventional burial in a Kehilla section.
- Gan Shalom in Briones, with conventional burial in a Jewish cemetery in a Kehilla section.
- Lone Tree in Hayward, with strong potential for development of green burial within a Kehilla or Jewish section.
- Fernwood (Gan Yarok) in Marin, with green burial in a green cemetery in a Jewish section.
Individuals would be buying their own grave from the cemetery. Kehilla will not be subsidizing the grave purchases.
If you have questions about green burials, please refer to the greenburialcouncil.org.
If you have questions about this work, please contact Jane Hoberman at (510) 333-1848.
Most importantly, please complete this survey!
We thank you!