Who We Are
Our Community
Our Vision
Rabbi, Staff & Leadership
Our Story & Building
Cemetery
Our Community
Our Vision
Rabbi, Staff & Leadership
Our Story & Building
Cemetery
Our Community
The JCA offers an environment of warmth, joy, compassion and belonging, in our daily lives and in times of celebration and crisis.
Founded in 1969 to foster a “spirit of Jewish community” in Amherst, today we have a diverse membership of more than 300 households with families, couples and individuals from towns throughout Western Massachusetts and beyond.
We value openness and welcome all to our community, including all sexual orientations, people of color, interfaith couples and their children, people with disabilities and those of limited economic means.
The JCA is committed to non-exclusion with universal access and equal participation to spiritual and cultural life, regardless of a person’s visible or invisible disability, physical or mental health concerns, and chronic illness. We celebrate that all are made B’tzelem Elohim (in G-d’s image), and we honor the divine in ourselves and others when we remove the stumbling blocks (Leviticus 19:14) that marginalize disabled members of the community.
Embracing the values of our heritage, we honor the assertion in Pirkei Avot (Teaching of the Sages) that the world stands on Torah (study and mizvot), Avodah (worship), and Gemilut Hasadim (acts of loving kindness).
We share and enhance our understanding and practice of Jewish ritual and tradition through prayer services, cultural experiences and lifelong educational programs.
We provide many opportunities for participation and volunteer engagement within the JCA and in the wider world. As our community struggles with issues of oppression, social justice, peace, a clean and safe environment, and true equality, we strive to place our actions in a context of chesed (kindness) and tikkun olam (repair of the world).
OUR AFFILIATION
In 2002, the JCA affiliated with Reconstructing Judaism (at that time named the Jewish Reconstructionist Federation) after 30 years as an unaffiliated congregation. This affiliation matched the JCA well with its diversity of Jewish practice and belief, respect for traditional Jewish worship, study and culture, and emphasis on tikkun olam – improving the world and ourselves. Central to Reconstructing Judaism is the belief that we are individually and communally involved in and responsible for the evolution of Judaism, and for shaping the spiritual and cultural legacy we leave to future generations.
Our Vision & Mission
Our vision is to foster a vibrant, inclusive, and diverse community that supports individuals in their pursuit of Jewish spirituality, social justice, and lifelong learning. We strive to create a warm and welcoming environment that embraces individuals and families of all backgrounds and orientations, and fosters a sense of belonging and connectedness.
We envision a community that engages in meaningful prayer and ritual, drawing on Jewish tradition and contemporary creativity to inspire and uplift. We seek to promote social justice and pursue tikkun olam (repair of the world) through advocacy, education, and direct action.
We aspire to be a community that encourages curiosity and intellectual growth, and provides opportunities for individuals of all ages, backgrounds, and abilities, to deepen their knowledge of Judaism and their connection to its rich cultural heritage.
Rabbi, Staff & Leadership
Senior Rabbi
Rabbi Benjamin Weiner (he/him)
Rabbi Benjamin Weiner, writer, scholar of Yiddish and Irish literature, musician and homesteader, became spiritual leader of the Jewish Community of Amherst in 2010.
Growing up in Newton, Massachusetts, in the Conservative Jewish tradition, Rabbi Weiner graduated from the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College in 2008. Previously, he studied English Literature at Columbia University and received a Masters of Philosophy in Anglo-Irish literature from Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland, focusing his thesis on the works of James Joyce and Samuel Beckett.
Rabbi Weiner’s study of Yiddish as an undergraduate led him to participate in summer programs in New York, Vilnius, and Paris, and he now speaks and reads the language fluently.
Rabbi Weiner is committed to creating a vibrant and multi-faceted environment at the JCA, recognizing that people seek out Jewish community for many reasons, ranging across the religious-secular divide. He is inspired by Mordechai Kaplan’s vision of the modern synagogue as the meeting ground of the contemporary Jewish experience, where past and present are brought into productive dialogue. He believes that religious communities have an important role to play in providing solace and inspiration for those seeking to navigate our increasingly “interesting” times.
Rabbi Weiner sings and plays piano, banjo and guitar. He and his wife, Cantor Elise Barber, live on their three-acre homestead in Deerfield, along with their children, Efraim and Batya, and several goats and chickens.
Executive/Education Director
Keren Rhodes (she/her)
Keren has served as the Director of Education for the Jewish Community of Amherst (JCA) since 2014. She is an award winning Jewish educator who reimagined and built the JCA’s innovative and successful education program, Kesher. With a passion for creating and sustaining strong and vibrant communities, Keren has spent her career working to strengthen Jewish life in Amherst, and throughout the Pioneer Valley. In April 2023, Keren was selected to be the inaugural Executive Director of the JCA.
Keren is a graduate of Brandeis University and a member of cohort 10 of the Mandel Teacher Educator Institute. Before the Covid19 Pandemic, in addition to her role as Director of Education, she and her husband owned and operated Glazed Doughnut Shop in downtown Amherst for nearly ten years.
Keren is deeply committed to creating a welcoming and inclusive Jewish community that celebrates diversity and values the contributions of all its members. She believes that Jewish life is richer and more meaningful when everyone is able to participate fully and authentically, and in partnership with community members, she works tirelessly to create spaces and programs that reflect this vision.
Keren lives in Amherst, MA with her husband Nick, and their children, Aiden and Noa, and a menagerie of animals (three dogs, a cat, a guinea pig, and two bunnies). In her spare time, Keren enjoys spending time with her family, reading, and exploring the natural beauty of the Pioneer Valley. She is honored to serve the Jewish Community of Amherst and looks forward to continuing to work with others to build a vibrant and inclusive Jewish community.
Administrative Staff
Aliza Persing (she/her)
Office Administrator and Communications Coordinator
Lauren Begin (she/her)
Executive Assistant and Program Coordinator
Executive Committee and Board of Directors
Contact: execcommittee@jcamherst.org
Mara Hahn, President: president@jcamherst.org
Executive Committee: Boris Wolfson, 1st Vice President; Madeleine Charney, 2nd Vice President; Doug Gnepp, 3rd Vice President; Rachel Vigderman, Treasurer; Kip Fonsh, Clerk
Members-at-large: Emily Bloch, Hal Schneider, Jonathan Lewis, Lisa Kent, Mari Schwartzer, Marty Pepper Aisenberg, Sarah Cohen, Susan Marcus
Senior Rabbi
Rabbi Benjamin Weiner
Rabbi Benjamin Weiner, writer, scholar of Yiddish and Irish literature, musician and homesteader, became spiritual leader of the Jewish Community of Amherst in 2010.
Growing up in Newton, Massachusetts, in the Conservative Jewish tradition, Rabbi Weiner graduated from the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College in 2008. Previously, he studied English Literature at Columbia University and received a Masters of Philosophy in Anglo-Irish literature from Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland, focusing his thesis on the works of James Joyce and Samuel Beckett.
Rabbi Weiner’s study of Yiddish as an undergraduate led him to participate in summer programs in New York, Vilnius, and Paris, and he now speaks and reads the language fluently.
Rabbi Weiner is committed to creating a vibrant and multi-faceted environment at the JCA, recognizing that people seek out Jewish community for many reasons, ranging across the religious-secular divide. He is inspired by Mordechai Kaplan’s vision of the modern synagogue as the meeting ground of the contemporary Jewish experience, where past and present are brought into productive dialogue. He believes that religious communities have an important role to play in providing solace and inspiration for those seeking to navigate our increasingly “interesting” times.
Rabbi Weiner sings and plays piano, banjo and guitar. He and his wife, Cantor Elise Barber, live on their three-acre homestead in Deerfield, along with their children, Efraim and Batya, and several goats and chickens.
Executive/Education Director
Keren Rhodes (She/Her)
Keren has served as the Director of Education for the Jewish Community of Amherst (JCA) since 2014. She is an award winning Jewish educator who reimagined and built the JCA’s innovative and successful education program, Kesher. With a passion for creating and sustaining strong and vibrant communities, Keren has spent her career working to strengthen Jewish life in Amherst, and throughout the Pioneer Valley. In April 2023, Keren was selected to be the inaugural Executive Director of the JCA.
Keren is a graduate of Brandeis University and a member of cohort 10 of the Mandel Teacher Educator Institute. Before the Covid19 Pandemic, in addition to her role as Director of Education, she and her husband owned and operated Glazed Doughnut Shop in downtown Amherst for nearly ten years.
Keren is deeply committed to creating a welcoming and inclusive Jewish community that celebrates diversity and values the contributions of all its members. She believes that Jewish life is richer and more meaningful when everyone is able to participate fully and authentically, and in partnership with community members, she works tirelessly to create spaces and programs that reflect this vision.
Keren lives in Amherst, MA with her husband Nick, and their children, Aiden and Noa, and a menagerie of animals (three dogs, a cat, a guinea pig, and two bunnies). In her spare time, Keren enjoys spending time with her family, reading, and exploring the natural beauty of the Pioneer Valley. She is honored to serve the Jewish Community of Amherst and looks forward to continuing to work with others to build a vibrant and inclusive Jewish community.
Administrative Staff
Aliza Persing (She/Her)
Office Administrator and Communications Coordinator
Lauren Begin (She/Her)
Executive Assistant and Program Coordinator
Executive Committee and Board of Directors
Contact: execcommittee@jcamherst.org
Mara Hahn, President: president@jcamherst.org
Executive Committee: Boris Wolfson, 1st Vice President; Madeleine Charney, 2nd Vice President; Doug Gnepp, 3rd Vice President; Rachel Vigderman, Treasurer; Kip Fonsh, Clerk
Members-at-large: Emily Bloch, Hal Schneider, Jonathan Lewis, Lisa Kent, Mari Schwartzer, Marty Pepper Aisenberg, Sarah Cohen, Susan Marcus
Our Story & Building
The Early Years
The JCA today has more than 300 member households made up of families, couples and individuals. A vibrant Jewish community in Amherst would have been hard to imagine for the first Jewish residents who arrived in Amherst in the early 1900s. By the 1950s, a small group had formed the Amherst Jewish Community to promote social and cultural events. In 1966, the Amherst Jewish Education Committee was established and initiated a Sunday and Hebrew school for the youngest members of the community. The two groups merged in 1969 to create the Jewish Community of Amherst, Inc. (JCA).
The new community met in many different local facilities until 1976 when members took the bold step of purchasing the sanctuary and parish hall of the Second Congregational Church at 742 Main Street, the JCA’s home ever since. Three years later, the JCA purchased and consecrated land in Shutesbury for our cemetery.
A second bold step was taken in 2001, when members contributed and borrowed funds to accommodate the JCA’s present and future growth. The result was a major designed addition to the old church buildings that included a new social hall, commercial quality kitchen, small sanctuary, main offices and a foyer. Despite extensive renovation, the historic integrity of the old church buildings was preserved.
Further information about the early years of the JCA may be found in The Jewish Community of Amherst: The Formative Years, 1969-1979 by Irving Seidman, available for purchase in the JCA Judaica Store with proceeds from sales of the book benefitting the Rabbi’s Discretionary Fund.
Rabbinic Leadership
Throughout its history, the JCA has been blessed with dedicated and skilled lay and rabbinical leaders. In the early years, services were led by lay members of the community and guest rabbis, a practice that continues to enrich and sustain us for many of our daily, Shabbat and holiday services. Some member leaders are rabbis themselves or have studied service leadership.
Rabbi Yechiael Lander, while serving as rabbi at Smith College and Amherst College, generously guided our community through its early growing period in a part-time capacity, and was honored with the title of Rabbi Emeritus of the JCA. As our numbers grew and our identity as a congregation took form, a search for full-time rabbinical leadership became our focus.
Rabbi Sheila Peltz Weinberg, already a nationally known figure in the Reconstructionist movement, served as our first full-time spiritual leader 1989-2002. This was a period of major growth for our congregation, characterized by the reinforcement of gender equity at the JCA, and the addition of weekly Shabbat morning services with the ongoing services on Friday evenings.
Rabbi David Dunn Bauer served the JCA from 2003 through June 2010. During his tenure our youth program grew significantly, a Fair Share Dues program was adopted, and High Holiday services were creatively reorganized to fit into our buildings with both Reconstructionist and Masorti style services.
Rabbi Benjamin Weiner became spiritual leader of the JCA in August of 2010. In his first years as our rabbi, he initiated high quality musical davening into our services, attracting experienced musicians to join him and with extensive participation by the congregation; brought new energy and creativity to youth and family education and support of adult study programs; and guided and encouraged the JCA’s response to tikkun olam and social justice in our complex world.
Our Historic Building
The white, steepled building facing Main Street was built in 1837 for the Second Congregational Church of Amherst. The founders of this Second Parish were supporters of the American Revolution who resigned in 1783 from the First Congregational Church in the center of Amherst because of the minister’s Tory sentiments. The members of the Second Parish built their first meetinghouse where the Fort River School now stands. By 1837 they had constructed the Greek Revival-style meetinghouse, now known as the JCA sanctuary, designed by noted Amherst architect, Warren Howland. The steeple is surmounted by his signature Acorn representing Vigor and Strength. Our beautiful sanctuary has the pipes for a functioning historic Emmons Howard tracker organ, a decorated tin ceiling, and lovely stained glass windows that date from an 1894 remodeling. Next to the sanctuary, the original Parish Hall of 1859, styled after the main building, served the JCA until 2001 as social hall, kitchen, classrooms and offices. Since the 2001 renovation, the once-Parish Hall retains much of its original design, the main room now serving as a meeting and study space housing the JCA’s small library. In the summer of 2017, the JCA membership voted to accept a major grant from the Town of Amherst, recommended by the Community Preservation Act Committee, for a complete restoration and straightening of the steeple, rather than its removal, thus honoring the commitment of the founders of the JCA to maintain the visible exterior and integrity of the building in a manner that reflects its history and its importance as part of the East Village Historical District.
The Early Years
The JCA today has more than 300 member households made up of families, couples and individuals. A vibrant Jewish community in Amherst would have been hard to imagine for the first Jewish residents who arrived in Amherst in the early 1900s. By the 1950s, a small group had formed the Amherst Jewish Community to promote social and cultural events. In 1966, the Amherst Jewish Education Committee was established and initiated a Sunday and Hebrew school for the youngest members of the community. The two groups merged in 1969 to create the Jewish Community of Amherst, Inc. (JCA).
The new community met in many different local facilities until 1976 when members took the bold step of purchasing the sanctuary and parish hall of the Second Congregational Church at 742 Main Street, the JCA’s home ever since. Three years later, the JCA purchased and consecrated land in Shutesbury for our cemetery.
A second bold step was taken in 2001, when members contributed and borrowed funds to accommodate the JCA’s present and future growth. The result was a major designed addition to the old church buildings that included a new social hall, commercial quality kitchen, small sanctuary, main offices and a foyer. Despite extensive renovation, the historic integrity of the old church buildings was preserved.
Further information about the early years of the JCA may be found in The Jewish Community of Amherst: The Formative Years, 1969-1979 by Irving Seidman, available for purchase in the JCA Judaica Store with proceeds from sales of the book benefitting the Rabbi’s Discretionary Fund.
Rabbinic Leadership
Throughout its history, the JCA has been blessed with dedicated and skilled lay and rabbinical leaders. In the early years, services were led by lay members of the community and guest rabbis, a practice that continues to enrich and sustain us for many of our daily, Shabbat and holiday services. Some member leaders are rabbis themselves or have studied service leadership.
Rabbi Yechiael Lander, while serving as rabbi at Smith College and Amherst College, generously guided our community through its early growing period in a part-time capacity, and was honored with the title of Rabbi Emeritus of the JCA. As our numbers grew and our identity as a congregation took form, a search for full-time rabbinical leadership became our focus.
Rabbi Sheila Peltz Weinberg, already a nationally known figure in the Reconstructionist movement, served as our first full-time spiritual leader 1989-2002. This was a period of major growth for our congregation, characterized by the reinforcement of gender equity at the JCA, and the addition of weekly Shabbat morning services with the ongoing services on Friday evenings.
Rabbi David Dunn Bauer served the JCA from 2003 through June 2010. During his tenure our youth program grew significantly, a Fair Share Dues program was adopted, and High Holiday services were creatively reorganized to fit into our buildings with both Reconstructionist and Masorti style services.
Rabbi Benjamin Weiner became spiritual leader of the JCA in August of 2010. In his first years as our rabbi, he initiated high quality musical davening into our services, attracting experienced musicians to join him and with extensive participation by the congregation; brought new energy and creativity to youth and family education and support of adult study programs; and guided and encouraged the JCA’s response to tikkun olam and social justice in our complex world.
Our Historic Building
The white, steepled building facing Main Street was built in 1837 for the Second Congregational Church of Amherst. The founders of this Second Parish were supporters of the American Revolution who resigned in 1783 from the First Congregational Church in the center of Amherst because of the minister’s Tory sentiments. The members of the Second Parish built their first meetinghouse where the Fort River School now stands. By 1837 they had constructed the Greek Revival-style meetinghouse, now known as the JCA sanctuary, designed by noted Amherst architect, Warren Howland. The steeple is surmounted by his signature Acorn representing Vigor and Strength. Our beautiful sanctuary has the pipes for a functioning historic Emmons Howard tracker organ, a decorated tin ceiling, and lovely stained glass windows that date from an 1894 remodeling. Next to the sanctuary, the original Parish Hall of 1859, styled after the main building, served the JCA until 2001 as social hall, kitchen, classrooms and offices. Since the 2001 renovation, the once-Parish Hall retains much of its original design, the main room now serving as a meeting and study space housing the JCA’s small library. In the summer of 2017, the JCA membership voted to accept a major grant from the Town of Amherst, recommended by the Community Preservation Act Committee, for a complete restoration and straightening of the steeple, rather than its removal, thus honoring the commitment of the founders of the JCA to maintain the visible exterior and integrity of the building in a manner that reflects its history and its importance as part of the East Village Historical District.
Cemetery
Our lovely country cemetery is an integral part of the JCA. In 1979, through the leadership efforts of Normand Berlin, one of the founders of the community, and with support from the first Cemetery Committee, the JCA purchased appropriate land and established a cemetery following the Jewish tradition of providing burial space for all members. Plots are available for purchase to members and non-members who agree to adhere to the guidelines below. We will gladly provide any further information you need, and welcome your inquiries.
Introduction
The overriding principles of traditional Jewish burials are simplicity and alignment with the processes of nature. Therefore, Jewish burial has historically had a low impact on the environment. In keeping with Jewish tradition, we offer burial options that are ecologically sensitive. Guidelines for burials ensure that there is little or no interference with the body rejoining the elements.
The family of the deceased may wish to use the services of the JCA Chevra Kadisha (Sacred Society), whose function is to perform taharah, the ritual washing and preparation of a body for burial. At the end of taharah, the deceased is clothed in a simple, white linen shroud. There is a Jewish custom that a shomer (a watcher over the deceased) remains with the body until burial. Family members are invited to serve as shomrim if they so desire. Both tahara and shomrim are available from the JCA at the family’s request. Please contact the JCA office for help accessing these services.
Ideally, Jewish funerals are held within 24 hours of death when circumstances permit. Delays beyond that time should be kept to a minimum if needed for family members to arrive from out of town.
JCA Approval and Oversight: All burials at the JCA cemetery must have the approval of the JCA. Please call or have your funeral director contact the JCA office at 413-256-0160.
Directions
Directions
222 Leverett Road, Shutesbury
(between Pratt Corner Road and W. Pelham Road)
From the JCA, turn left out of the parking lot and follow Main Street toward Pelham for 1.7 miles. Turn left onto North Valley Road. The Pelham Fire Department is on the right.
Go for 1.3 miles, then take your first left onto Buffam Road where there will be a sign for Shutesbury. Go for approximately 5 miles until the end of the road.
At the T, turn left onto Leverett Road, and the third driveway on the left is the JCA Cemetery. The clearing and fence can be seen as well as the handcrafted sign with a Star of David.
Cemetery Guidlines
The following rules govern all JCA funeral services and the use of the JCA Cemetery. While exceptions cannot be made, the rabbi and the Cemetery Committee are ready to explain the rationale behind each rule. Our intention is to show respect to the deceased and comfort to the bereaved, in accordance with the traditions of our people and this community.
- No burial is allowed on the Jewish Sabbath (Shabbat) or on Jewish festivals
- Embalming and cosmetology are forbidden, except when required by law
- Cremated remains may not be interred in the cemetery
- If the body is donated to medical science, the remains may not be buried in the forested section
- The synagogue has sacred books (i.e. old prayer books) that must be discarded respectfully. The repository is called a Genizah (Hebrew for “hidden away”). The burial of sacred books with the body is allowed and encouraged
- Non-Jewish religious icons are not permitted on headstones or in the cemetery.
- Jewish tradition discourages arrangements of cut flowers. Instead consider placing a small stone on the grave marker or headstone. To find out more about this Jewish tradition please click here.
- Plantings on individual gravesites are not permitted at the JCA Cemetery
- The JCA reserves the right to remove all flowers, wreaths and other natural decorations.
- Placement of flags at gravesites requires the approval of the Cemetery Committee
- The Cemetery Committee will determine appropriate locations for benches, shrubs, and ornamental trees
- Funeral services held at the cemetery are at the discretion of the rabbi
Grave Markers and Headstones
In Jewish tradition, the unveiling generally takes place prior to the first anniversary of the death. Please inform the JCA office of your unveiling plans, or to request assistance.
Original Section: A uniform headstone no bigger than a “2-foot slant” (2 feet wide, 10 inches thick on bottom, 3 inches thick on top and 1 foot 4 inches high) is to be placed at the gravesite, set in a cement foundation.
All Other Sections: Markers are set dry, without a foundation (no cement), no larger than about 1 ft x 2 ft (288 sq.in.). Markers may be inscribed or engraved. There will be no standing markers, headstones, or statues.
Our research tells us that non-granite stone will not wear well and is difficult to engrave upon. Therefore, we recommend using locally quarried gray granite.
Our recommended monument dealers are:
- Dorsey Monuments in Amherst
- Negus & Taylor in Greenfield.
The family makes arrangements for markers. The monument dealer, in consultation with the Cemetery Committee, will install the marker. Markers are, of course, optional.
Coffins and Shrouds
Burial vaults, grave liners and caskets containing any metal or other non-biodegradable materials are not permitted. Coffins should be made of biodegradable materials. Only burial in biodegradable shrouds is permitted. This includes cotton, wool, silk, or hemp.
Sequential Burial for Forested Section only
Sequential burial is used here to be sensitive to the root systems because the Forested Section is located in a pine forest. If plots are desired next to each other they need to be purchased at the same time. This also means that individuals cannot request specific sites in the cemetery for burial. Rather, the most recent person who has passed away will be buried next to the last person buried.
Graves may take several years to settle back to the original ground level. Sometimes, graves settle unevenly even from one day to the next. Graves will be re-mounded periodically, as needed.
Cemetery Maps: Please contact the JCA office to arrange access to our online cemetery map software.
Charges and Donations: Families will be responsible for all expenses of burial and other funeral arrangements. See Financial Regulations for cost of plots.
The Cemetery Committee has final authority in all matters pertaining to the JCA Cemetery, and when necessary, may revise cemetery rules as well as the financial charges, with approval from the JCA Board.
Financial Policies
Financial Regulations
- Members who are in good standing (they are up to date on dues payments for the current year), may purchase a single burial gravesite, sometimes also called a plot.
- The current fee for JCA members is $650, paid in full, which includes the cost of perpetual care. The JCA Board may alter this price at any time. The cost of a plot does not include excavation of the gravesite, cost of grave liner, or additional costs of excavation during the winter.
- The member, at the time of purchase, may choose the location of the plot within the area of the cemetery designated by the Cemetery Committee as available for sale.
- Members may purchase gravesites for their own use and also for others in their immediate family ~ defined as a member’s partner and dependent children.
- Members also may purchase single burial plots for extended family members. The cost for each of these plots with perpetual care included is currently $3,000. Extended family includes parents, non-dependent children, spouses of said children, siblings, grandparents, and grandchildren. Extended family for this provision does not include cousins, aunts, uncles, or their spouses, or any other family relationship or close friend.
- If you are no longer a member, but have been a member in the past (minimum of 10 years of membership), you may purchase a gravesite for your own use or the use of immediate family members (as defined in #4) for $3,000 each. In order to get the member price, you must have a current active membership with the JCA. Prior members may not purchase a grave for extended family members (as defined in #5).
- Non-members may purchase a single burial lot. The current fee for each plot is $7,500.
- Plot purchases can be made before or after the time of death.
- Leaving the Jewish Community of Amherst (including official resignation, as well as no longer being a member in good standing as defined by the JCA bylaws).
- Members who have purchased a gravesite and thereafter resign from the Jewish Community of Amherst, who have been members for less than ten years, must either sell their gravesite back to the community at the same price they paid; or if they choose to retain their gravesite, they may do so only by paying the then applicable non-member cost for each plot (currently $7,500), minus the amount they have already paid for the gravesite.
- Members who have purchased a gravesite and thereafter resign from the Jewish Community of Amherst, who have been members for ten years or longer, must either sell their gravesite back to the community at the same price they paid; or if they choose to retain their gravesite; they may do so only by paying the then applicable prior-member cost (currently $3,000) for each plot, minus the amount they have already paid for the gravesite.
- If you are leaving the Jewish Community of Amherst and wish to be considered for an exception to the above resignation rules because of your unique circumstances, please contact the Executive Director for an exception form. After you complete the form, your request will be considered by a committee made up of the Executive Director, the rabbi, and the president.
- The JCA Board may use its discretion in deviating from the above financial regulations when deemed appropriate.
The Gates of Gangelt at the JCA Cemetery
These simple wooden and iron gates were brought here from a Jewish cemetery in Gangelt, which is a Western German village near Aachen, near by the Dutch border. Even though Jews had settled between the Maas and Rhine rivers alongside the Romans, the first official record of a Jewish resident in the small rural-Catholic town of Gangelt, was a man named Marx (or Marcus), dating back to 1654. A small Jewish congregation that lived off limited trade, money lending, and livestock trading came together and, in 1824, consisted of ten families, most of them with many children. As early as 1823, this congregation had a “synagogue on Heinsberger Street behind Nathan Herzfeld’s house”, as is documented in the town chronicles. It wasn’t until 1877, though, that the Jew of Gangelt established their own cemetery at Wirtsberg, on the outskirts of Gangelt.
During WWI, three young Jewish men from Gangelt lost their lives as soldiers of the German Army. On January 18, 1925, the town chronicles announced that “our oldest resident, Hermann Alban, died at the age of 87. He was a poor Jew but was well respected by all, due to his sprightliness. Many, including non-Congregationalists, joined him in his last journey to Wirtsberg.” Just a few years later, Gangelt’s Jewish congregation was annihilated during the Holocaust. Approximately 50 Jews lived in Gangelt when the National Socialist party took power in 1933. More than half of them were murdered.
Aside from the synagogue – one of the few synagogue not burned down during the “Kristallnacht” of November 9/10, 1938 – and a table that was put up at the town hall in 1992, only the Jewish cemetery is left to remind us of the Jews of Gangelt. This cemetery is located far from the remains of the medieval town walls on a wooded hill, adjacent to a busy state highway. The “official permit’ for use of the cemetery that was issued by the Prussian government on December 27, 1877, specified, “that the site be completely and permanently enclosed and kept locked except during burials”. Only the two simple brick pillars of the entrance gate are left of this original enclosure.
The 31 remaining tombs bear the names of long-established Jewish families of Gangelt, such as Hertz, Josephs, Leopold, and Rosendahl. All the gravestones show signs of damage, and many graves – such as the one of the above-mentioned Hermann Alban – were obliterated entirely. We do not know whether the cemetery was first desecrated during the “Kristallnacht” when Gangelt experienced terrible anti-Semitic riots, or whether it had been desecrated even before then. After 1945, the cemetery was renovated and is now being cared for by the town of Gangelt. Yet, desecrations still happen today; the last one occurred in May of 2010.
On the initiative of Walter Leopold, the gates of Gangelt’s cemetery were installed here during a ceremony on October 24, 2010. His grandfather, Lion Leopold (1871-1949) was the last president of the synagogue and its Jewish community in Gangelt. His grandfather’s sister, Berta Morgenstern, née Leopold (born 1875), was the last person to be laid to eternal rest in the Jewish Cemetery of Gangelt on June 23, 1936.
Dr. Horst Seferens is Director of Press and Public Relations for the Brandenburg Memorials Foundation in Oranienburg (near Berlin).