Schara Tzedeck Cemetery

Marcianos celebrated for years of service

Rev. Joseph Marciano has served the Jewish community in many roles, notably as head of the Chevra Kadisha (Burial Society). (photo from cemeteryboard.com)

“It means a tremendous amount to us, as we have dedicated the past 40-plus years of our lives, day and night, to serving the Schara Tzedeck congregation and Schara Tzedeck Cemetery Board and the entire Vancouver Jewish community in so many various capacities,” said Rev. Joseph Marciano about being recognized, with his wife Simone, for their decades of service. “We have come to know many generations of congregants and it means a lot to celebrate with everyone.”

The June 10 dinner honouring the Marcianos has sold out, but people can still buy tickets to the community program.

There are some people who are able to rise to every occasion, says Rabbi Andrew Rosenblatt, and his colleague is an exemplar of that extraordinary characteristic.

photo - Rev. Joseph Marciano — Rev. Joseph Marciano is being honoured on June 10, along with his wife Simone, for their decades of service to the community. *(photo from cemeteryboard.com)*

Marciano, who joined the staff of Schara Tzedeck more than 40 years ago, is a trained schochet, ritual slaughterer, ordained by a prestigious Sephardi rabbi from Morocco. Over the years, Rosenblatt said, and depending on need, Marciano “graduated into various other roles.”

He serves as a teacher, a Torah reader, a funeral director and head of the Chevra Kadisha (Burial Society). But this does not cover the formal and informal roles Marciano plays, according to the rabbi.

“If there is a need, he learns to fill it,” said Rosenblatt. “There is an idea in Judaism, in the teachings of Pirkei Avot [Ethics of Our Fathers], that, if there is no one to lead, you need to come to that position of leadership.”

Rosenblatt hesitates to apply the term “social worker,” but said Marciano has a knack for filling a need in the lives of others.

“Sometimes, it would be, this person needs horseradish for their seder,” the rabbi said, “or this person needs medical care, and there are different kinds of home support. Maybe it was to find someone to help them clean their apartment. It could be driving people to the airport, or bringing people candles for certain things. He’s one of those people who just rises to occasions.”

Adapting is second nature to Marciano, who tells an amusing story about a misunderstanding around a life-changing moment for the Marciano family.

“When Joseph first came to British Columbia, he thought that Canada was a French-speaking country and, coming from Morocco, and being a French speaker, he thought, OK, sure, no problem,” Rosenblatt said, noting that Marciano has adapted fine to living and working in a primarily Anglophone province.

“He’s a deeply pious person,” Rosenblatt said of his colleague, with whom he has worked for 22 years, since the rabbi came to Vancouver. “He’s the real deal.”

“Simone is, by virtue of personality, a very quiet person,” Rosenblatt said of the evening’s other honouree. “For her, family has been an extremely important thing. They have raised four really remarkable children who are committed to their Judaism and are also individually successful in different ways.”

A special guest for the event will be a rabbi who has gained a deep affection for the Marcianos during their visits to see family in California.

“One of my colleagues, the rabbi of Beth Jacob in Los Angeles, Rabbi Kalman Topp, has developed such a fondness for Joseph on his visits down to LA that he is coming up here to be our keynote speaker,” said Rosenblatt.

Marciano credits his leadership of the Burial Society to the late Jack Diamond, who asked him to become an assistant to the funeral director at the time.

“Then, later on, when the late Harley Feldstein moved from Vancouver, Dr. Jack Kowarsky, with the late Charles Diamond, hired me to be the funeral director,” Marciano said. “I chose this path because it allowed me to be there for many families at times of grief and offer them comfort, as well as help them arrange for a Jewish and dignified burial and farewell for their loved ones, which has been extremely fulfilling. I trained for this role under the previous funeral director, as well as by taking a three-year intensive course through the Province of British Columbia to be an accredited funeral director.”

Among many highlights of his time with the synagogue has been working with the youngest congregants, “teaching hundreds of bar mitzvah boys to read the Torah and Haftorah and learning with bat mitzvah girls, as well as participating in the hundreds of weddings of our members and their families,” he said. “Another extremely special honour I have had in my role has been reading the Torah week in and week out for the past 40-plus years, as well as blowing the shofar for so many years.”

Marciano attributes his accomplishments to the partnership he has with Simone.

“As much as I have been on call 24/7 for any and all situations and emergencies, and it may have been me showing up to assist in various situations, my wife was there behind the scenes encouraging me,” he said. “I would say everything I was able to accomplish here is a testament to her dedication and she shares in this honour as much as I do.”

To attend the community program, go to scharatzedeck.com.

Plan for the inevitable

On Sept. 1, burial plot costs and funeral prices are set to increase. (photo from Schara Tzedeck Cemetery Board)

After Lorna Krangle’s husband, Larry, passed away last year, she determined to put her own final plans in place and not to leave funeral arrangements for her family.

“After burying him, I just thought, I’ve got to do something,” she told the Independent. “I’m not going to have all the kids being worried and putting money together or whatever. They’ve got their own families.”

Krangle, 87, has deep roots in Vancouver. She was born here, and grew up around the city, first on Main Street, near the Ivanhoe Hotel, and, later, at 19th and Cambie. She and Larry raised their six kids on the North Shore.

Larry and his brother, Jack, ran Regent Tailors, adjacent Victory Square at the heart of Vancouver’s downtown. Lorna was a ceiling-busting female saleswoman, taking orders from retailers and outfitting the Canadian Pacific Airlines female flight crews with their uniforms.

It was only recently, though, that she turned her attentions to a different kind of business: making final arrangements. Now, she is urging everyone to take the step. Krangle is a bit of an evangelist for pre-arranging.

Howard Jampolsky, executive director of the Schara Tzedeck Cemetery Board, agrees wholeheartedly. He is also urging people to consider taking the step before Sept. 1, when prices for both cemetery plots and funeral services go up significantly.

The cemetery board is the not-for-profit charity that operates Jewish burial facilities in New Westminster, Surrey and at the historic Jewish cemetery located in Vancouver’s Mountain View Cemetery.

Planning ahead can bring peace of mind to families, Jampolsky said, and it also presents the opportunity to spread the not-insignificant costs over an extended period. Without prepayment, costs of the burial plot and funeral services are due at the time of burial. Prepaying allows the fees to be spread out over months or years, with no interest or service fees. All funds, by law, are held in trust, he said.

The cemetery board now sells plots and funeral services as a package, which is a fairly new approach. It used to be common for people to prepay for the plot, but not the funeral.

“The fact of the matter is, if you pay for the plot and not the funeral, the funeral price is still going to continue to go up,” he said.

The term “pre-planning” is a common term in the funeral sector. However, it doesn’t really apply in this case, Jampolsky said. In other cities, Jewish funeral providers may be for-profit entities and offer a diversity of services. The Schara Tzedeck Cemetery Board’s philosophy is that the type or quality of a funeral should not be determined by the wealth of the deceased.

“There is really no planning for a Jewish funeral,” he said. “A Jewish funeral, as we provide one, is pretty much the same for everybody.” Unlike in other traditions or places, there is no music to choose, no flowers to select. The caskets Schara Tzedeck offers are simple pine boxes intended for speedy decomposition per Jewish tradition.

“We believe that everybody comes into the world equal, they should go out of the world equal and, to the best of our ability, that’s what we try to do,” he said.

There is another fundamental tenet of the nonprofit funeral provider, Jampolsky said: “Every Jewish person has the right to a full and proper Jewish burial.”

“If you do have financial constraints and you would like to discuss options available, certainly we can work something out,” he said. “That’s when I sit down and talk to people one-on-one and find something that works for them and works for us.”

The financial situation of a household is also a factor in considering prepayment. Preparing in advance is a good plan, he said – but not if it causes financial hardship.

“If people are struggling, if they are on a fixed income, I don’t want people to prepay their funeral and have to sit in the dark or not have their television or have to give up a vacation,” he said. “You have to live. Living is most important. But, for those who just want to get it out of the way and taken care of, it’s a great set-up.”

On Sept. 1, the cost for a plot at the New Westminster cemetery will rise to $14,000 from the current $12,500. Plots at Schara Tzedeck’s Surrey cemetery will go up to $7,500 from $6,500. There are still several dozen plots available at the old Jewish cemetery at Mountain View – Jampolsky acknowledges that some people may be under the impression the cemetery is full – and those prices are rising to $27,000 from $23,500, keeping in line with prices in the non-Jewish section of Mountain View.

Funeral services at all locations are increasing to $13,000 from $12,000.

Getting affairs in order ahead of time can make a sad and stressful time a little easier, said Jampolsky.

“I’ve seen this so many times when we are dealing with a family,” he said. “We’re talking about picking up their loved one and we’re talking about doing a burial tomorrow, because it’s so quick, and then we have to talk about the money and what it’s going to cost and they have to figure that out.”

Pre-arranging can take that element out of the mix for the survivors.

“It’s a very significant gift to give to your loved ones,” Jampolsky said. “You can remove that burden from the ones you love.”

Caring for cemetery

In the Jewish Cemetery at Mountain View, a shroud was erected to protect the Kravitz family headstones. (photo from Schara Tzedeck Cemetery Board)

Responsible for three Jewish cemeteries in the Lower Mainland, the Schara Tzedeck Cemetery Board recently completed several projects.

Unable to restore two of the most interesting headstones at the Jewish Cemetery at Mountain View, a large metal shroud was erected for protection over the Kravitz family headstones. Designed by Bill Pechet and donated by the City of Vancouver and Saul Goldberg, a cousin of the family, this has added a unique decorative feature in the cemetery, as well as essential protection from the elements.

photo - A translation of the Kravitz family headstones has been added — A translation of the Kravitz family headstones has been added. *(photo from STCB)*

The Kravitz/Goldberg family has been traced back to the 1800s and has four members buried in this pioneer cemetery. Leah Deslauriers, Saul Goldberg’s daughter, provided a family history that completed missing pieces of information about the family. Translation of the poetry on the headstones was completed by Daniella Givon and mounted in weatherproof panels inside the shroud.

With the protection in place for these headstones, this site already has become a highlight for visitors on their walking tours.

Inside the new Schara Tzedeck Funeral Chapel in Surrey is a beautiful Memorial Giving Tree. Designed and created by Eclipse Awards, this tree made of maple, cherry and walnut woods is prominently displayed at the entrance to the new chapel. It will contain engravings that members of the community may purchase to memorialize their loved ones buried in Surrey. The tree can contain up to 100 elements to be inscribed, ranging from small leaves to birds.

photo - Memorial Giving Tree at Schara Tzedeck Funeral Chapel in Surrey — Memorial Giving Tree at Schara Tzedeck Funeral Chapel in Surrey. *(photo from STCB)*

Years ago, the elders of the community were asked to place headstones on unmarked graves. Today, the Chesed Shel Emet Fund, fulfils that mandate. This past year, more than 50 headstones were placed on gravesites where there were no headstones. In some cases, there were no families to do so and, in many cases, there was a financial inability to have a marker.

The Schara Tzedeck Cemetery Board, under the executive director Howard Jampolsky, board chairs Jack Kowarsky and Arnold Silber, and funeral director Joseph Marciano, works to ensure that all members of the community not only have a dignified burial, no matter what their financial situation is, but also works to initiate projects that serve the community and help maintain the beauty of its cemeteries.

This past year, other projects have included a new irrigation system, the establishment of a water/well in New Westminster and the ability to manufacture burial caskets on-site. The cemetery board and the Chevra Kadisha also produced an informative video on tahara (the process of preparing people for burial), which may be seen on the website cemeteryboard.com.

For more information on these and other projects, contact Jampolsky at 604-733-2277, ext. 204.

– Courtesy Schara Tzedeck Cemetery Board

Cemeteries get an upgrade

The new black granite memorial wall at Schara Tzedeck Cemetery in New Westminster allows people to memorialize loved ones buried in other cities. (photo from Schara Tzedeck)

What’s new at the cemetery? Not a question one tends to ask, but the Schara Tzedeck cemeteries in New Westminster and Surrey have seen some significant upgrades and additions in recent months.

At the New Westminster cemetery, which saw its first burial in 1929, 50 graves that did not have headstones have received permanent markers. More than 100 others will ideally also see stone markers added in the coming years as the cemetery board’s Chesed Shel Emet Fund is replenished.

There are plenty of reasons why a grave might not have a permanent headstone, according to Howard Jampolsky, executive director of the Schara Tzedeck Cemetery Board.

“Sometimes, somebody had no family, maybe they were destitute, alone in the world,” he said. “Sometimes, the families just don’t have money; sometimes, one spouse dies and they get a headstone and the other spouse dies and there is no one to put the headstone.”

Whatever the reasons, the graves, some dating back to the 1950s, had temporary markers.

The Chesed Shel Emet Fund was set up primarily with donations from cemetery board members, Jampolsky said, and the first batch of 50 headstones was purchased for these unmarked graves and placed in the last few months.

photo - One of 50 headstones placed on graves that, until now, had only temporary markers — One of 50 headstones placed on graves that, until now, had only temporary markers. *(photo from Schara Tzedeck)*

“We were hoping to do a big unveiling ceremony, where all the graves would be unveiled and we would invite the community,” he said. But COVID intervened. He hopes such a ceremony will occur in the future.

The headstones cost about $525 each and the board is welcoming donations from the community to the fund so they can proceed with placing more stones.

Also at New Westminster, a new black granite memorial wall has been created to commemorate people who are buried in other places.

“Sometimes, someone lives in Vancouver their entire life and they die and get buried in another place, maybe they’re sent to Toronto or Israel or somewhere else,” Jampolsky said. “This is an opportunity to memorialize somebody who lived in the city and contributed to the city’s life and they don’t have a headstone here. The other possibility is people who have parents or family buried in other places where they live and don’t have the ability to go and visit. If you want to come on the yahrzeit, you can come and put a rock on top of that.”

The New Westminster cemetery also has seen a green irrigation initiative recently completed.

“We spend a lot of money irrigating our green grass here, a lot of water,” he said. “We used potable city water.”

They have now drilled a well and are also capturing rainwater, which is pumped through the irrigation system. Not only is this better for the environment, Jampolsky said, but the $150,000 cost will be recouped in about eight years at current water rates. He sees the greening initiative as in keeping with Jewish burial tradition, which is respectful of the land, rejects concrete casings and does not include embalming.

In other significant news, the Surrey cemetery, which had its first burial about a dozen years ago, now has a chapel. Until now, funerals at the Surrey site were graveside only. A sad irony is that the pandemic has meant that, after the first couple of funerals in the new chapel, services had to be again curtailed to graveside only, and with limited attendance.

The $500,000 structure was completed in late 2019 and reflects the philosophy of the board, Jampolsky said, that all members of the community be treated equally. Those being buried in New Westminster had funerals in a chapel, while those in Surrey did not. The new Surrey chapel was funded within the existing budget, but, if a community member wanted to contribute to the chapel, Jampolsky said, naming opportunities could be considered.

“The other thing we’re doing in Surrey is spending more time and effort and money to make Surrey look a lot nicer,” he said. “We are doing more landscaping work, we’re planting flowers and doing things that make it look very, very nice. We’re putting a lot of effort into that property.”

The Surrey cemetery contains about 2,000 plots while the much older New Westminster site has about 10,000. While approximately 5,000 of the New Westminster plots are filled, Jampolsky acknowledges that he can’t accurately predict how long the cemetery has before it is full.

“It really depends,” he said. There are about 80 burials annually in New Westminster. That would suggest about 60 years before it is full. But the community is growing quickly, so perhaps it would be only 50 years. At the same time, a plot may be purchased and not used for decades, he said. If a young family purchased plots today, it is reasonable to assume some burials might not occur until the 22nd century.