Copyright © 2010. Jewish Genealogical Society of Greater Boston, Inc. Contact
[email protected] for permission to reproduce.
Jewish Cemeteries and Funeral Homes in Massachusetts
by Alexander Woodle
Jewish Cemeteries
This listing of Jewish cemeteries in Massachusetts is derived from four main sources: the Jewish Cemetery Association of
Massachusetts (JCAM), Jewish Cemeteries of Western Massachusetts by Rabbi Edward Cohen & Lewis Goldfarb (accessible
through edwardcohen@sbcglobal.net), the International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies’ (IAJGS) Cemetery Project
www.jewishgen.org/cemetery/northamerica/massachusetts.html and Dunham’s Green Book of Funeral Directors of New England.
The cemetery listings are by location and, where available, show earliest burial, ownership and contact information. Known
sections sponsored by landsmanshaften (home town associations) are identified within cemeteries.
We are extremely fortunate in Massachusetts to have excellent resources to find our deceased relatives. JCAM’s ownership and
management of so many Jewish cemeteries in Eastern Massachusetts and the Western Massachusetts publication provide thousands
of names and locations of our ancestors.
JCAM’s website, www.jcam.org/ has maps of all the Jewish cemeteries in the state together with driving directions. Their database
contains approximately 50,000 names. If you know that your relative is buried in one of JCAM owned cemeteries and the name
does not come up in their online system, you can call them for assistance.
JCAM publishes an annual book entitled Jewish Cemeteries that contains useful information on the cemeteries it owns or manages
including maps and directions to all cemeteries.
Sharon Memorial Park is New England’s largest Jewish cemetery, with over 34,000 burials as of 2007. The website
www.sharonmemorial.com/ has a detailed and interesting history of this park. The park administration will help locate relatives
and provides detailed maps.
There are also Jewish sections in the following town cemeteries: Bedford, Braintree, Carlisle, Hull, Lexington, Lincoln, Millis, and
Nahant. Natick, Norwood, Plymouth, Quincy, Salem, Sudbury, and Wayland. Of historical interest is a plot purchased by B’nai
Israel Society in 1857. The last Jewish burial was in 1899 and a list of sixteen Jews buried here can be found at
www.lib.umassd.edu/Archives/jewishtour/GJewsImmi.html