DAYTON
3 congregations hope to combine cemetery operations into one entity
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Marshall Weiss
By Marshall Weiss The Observer Following a year of due diligence, the boards of Beth Abraham Synagogue, Beth Jacob Congregation, and Temple Israel agreed in principle in December to move forward with a project that would combine their cemeteries into a single non-profit entity, separate from the congregations’ operating budgets. Before any formal conDr. Robert Goldenberg, co-chair of the Dayton Jewish Cemeteries Steering solidation will take place, Committee (standing) leads a presentation for synagogue leaders in August. an endowment to operate Bruce Feldman (R) is also co-chair of the steering committee. the entity in perpetuity would need to be fully funded, the minimum funding required future. We can bring in profesaccording to the congregations’ in the cemetery endowment to sional management, take the agreement. cemetery expense and remove it move forward with the project. “The endowment will be from the congregational budget, “Each of the three cemetersuch and the operation will remove the operational probies runs a deficit each year,” be such that all three cemeterGoldenberg said, “and it’s about lems and emotional problems, ies will be totally taken care and address the moral imperathe same, about $50,000 a year. of in perpetuity in a Jewish What would make this work so tives.” way,” said Dr. Robert GoldenThe steering committee reeasily is that each of the three berg, who initially chaired the ceived seed funding to explore cemeteries is similar in size, in project’s steering committee the project from the Levin Famnumber of gravesites used and and now co-chairs it with Bruce not used, and in the costs of ily Foundation and the Jewish Feldman. Federation of Greater Dayton. the burials the congregations “It’s the right time and the With a consultant from Cincharge.” right thing to do for our Jewish The idea to combine the cem- cinnati’s Spring Grove Cemcommunity families and their etery, the committee studied the eteries came from Bart Weprin loved ones,” Feldman said. “By when he was Temple Israel’s Jewish Cemeteries of Greater putting the cemeteries together Cincinnati as a model; the nonpresident. as a community asset, we’ll save “What you have is a decaying profit organization formed in money on the overall cemetery 2008 and operates 24 of 27 Jewinfrastructure in the cemeteries operations and ensure perpetual and changing demographics,” ish cemeteries in the Cincinnati care. It’s important to note that Weprin said. “We found out the area in eight locations. each synagogue will maintain Goldenberg said Dayton’s average age of members in these control over its halachic (Jewish steering committee will now three synagogues is 70 years legal) requirements.” work with retired Cincinnati old. We have an obligation to Goldenberg said the comlawyer Ed Marks on the project. our families that are buried in mittee hasn’t yet determined our cemeteries to do this for the Continued on Page Four The Adventures of
Bark Mitzvah Boy
So Yiddishe Llama & Old Kveller, what’s your take on the immigration debate?
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From the editor’s desk Between Jan. 10 and 15, the Pew Research Center asked 1,503 adult Americans via phone, “In the dispute between Israel and the Palestinians, who do you sympathize with more?” The results were posted just as we Marshall were going to press: 79 percent of Weiss Republicans sympathize more with Israel, as do 27 percent of Democrats. Of those who sympathize more with Palestinians, the numbers are 6 percent of Republicans and 25 percent of Democrats. Of as much interest to me is the wording of the question. It nearly implies that if you’re pro-Israel, you’re anti-Palestinian. These are not the same. As one who believes Israel has the right to exist and has the right to protect the safety and security of its citizens, I also hope for the day when Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza no longer languish under the oppression and corruption of their leaders who have continually incited and enacted terror and hate, and who have for decades refused to seal a two-state solution with Israel.
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THE DAYTON JEWISH OBSERVER • FEBRUARY 2018
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