Cemetery gets new land

ALLEGRA LEVY

Although the Schara Tzedeck cemetery in New Westminster is still years away from reaching its full capacity, the cemetery board has begun planning for the future. The cemetery, currently housing around 6,000 interments out of its potential 9,000, has secured a new parcel of land for its expansion. According to Jack Kowarsky, co-chair of the Schara Tzedeck Cemetery Board, it will be several years before the extra land is actively needed, but it may be put into use sooner.

The new lot, an estimated 1,700 plots, was consecrated on Sunday, March 16, by Rabbi Andrew Rosenblatt and other rabbis from the Greater Vancouver area, including the Av Beit Din of Vancouver, Rabbi Avram Feigelstock. Tom Gil and Barbara Steele, Surrey city councillors, were also in attendance.

Because the expansion falls inside a residential neighborhood, there are many issues to address on both sides.

"What we're looking for is balance. To be able to respectfully find the best solution for both groups," said Gil, who was acting on behalf of Surrey Mayor Dianne Watts at the ceremony.

Debbie Sproule, representing the park department of the City of Surrey, was also at the event. For a cemetery to be established, she said, there are multiple zoning and registration procedures that must be carried out specifically pertaining to interment of human remains.

Because these procedures are very expensive, and because this land has been zoned cemetery since the 1800s, this site was quite attractive for the expansion.
About 30 congregants and representatives from the City of Surrey attended the 45-minute ceremony, which included passages from the Torah, and a brief sermon from Rosenblatt. In his sermon, the rabbi spoke on the nature of death in Judaism, and the value of human dignity.

"When you consecrate a new cemetery, you pause, because you know there is something new, but you know that this is not a place that you come to with joy in your heart," said Rosenblatt. "We must do this to preserve the dignity of humankind and [the dignity] of the mitzvot."

To preserve the dignity of all those interred in the Schara Tzedeck cemeteries, Rosenblatt said, all funeral proceedings are the same for all people. But despite universal burial procedures, there are still serious financial constraints on the families of the deceased. A Jewish funeral can cost more than $10,000, and may often result in major financial hardship for the bereaved.

Rosenblatt said that Schara Tzedeck will often cover funeral and interment costs for the destitute.

"[The] Schara Tzedeck Cemetery Board ensures that the wealthiest, most respected member of the community is buried in exactly the same fashion as the most anonymous and poorest member of the community," he said.

The event culminated with El Malei Rachamim, which was chanted by Feigelstock.

Allegra Levy is a Vancouver freelance writer.

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