New Brunswick, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia
and Prince Edward Island
THE JEWISH COMMUNITY
The Atlantic Jewish Council,
1515 S. Park St., Suite 304;
Halifax, N.S. B3J 2L2;
Tel# 902-422-7491 is the overall Jewish group of the Atlantic Provinces.
Source. Murray Shainis: e-mail:
lili1121@aol.com
Raymond Whitzman
(5787 McAlear Avenue, Cote Saint Luc, Quebec H4W 2H3;
whitz@cam.org
)
supplied the Atlantic Provinces unless otherwise noted. He has all gravestone
photos as indicated.
MILITARY BURIALS
Commonwealth War Graves Commission:
http://www.cwgc.org/
"The Commission was established by Royal Charter in 1917 ... to mark and
maintain the graves of the members of the forces of the Commonwealth who were
killed in the two World Wars, to build memorials to those who have no known
grave and to keep records and registers, including, after the Second World War,
a record of the Civilian War Dead." Name searchable from the site. [March 2002]
Main Office:
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
2 Marlow Road
Maidenhead
Berkshire
SL6 7DX
United Kingdom
Tel: (01628) 634221
Fax: (01628) 771208
Telex: 847526 Comgra G
E-mail:
casualty.enq@cwgc.org
THE CEMETERIES
NEW BRUNSWICK
FREDERICTON:
Sgoolai Israel cemetery: {10176} "By 1934 the Sgoolai Israel
Synagogue had been built, and a cemetery was purchased in 1943. Until that time,
community members had been buried in nearby Saint John, which had a larger Jewish
community." Contact: Sgoolai Israel Synagogue (Orthodox), Fredericton, NB -
Rabbi Ken Zisook, ph. (506) 454 9698,
rebzis@hotmail.com. Source:
http://www3.nbnet.nb.ca/sgoolai/#history
MONCTON:
Jewish Cemetery "For many years the few Jews of Moncton had used
the facilities of Saint John on their sad occasions, but by the end of the 1920s
they decided to establish their own House of Life. However, as the occasions
arose, the dead were still taken to Saint John. The reluctance to be the first
ended in 1931 when Aaron Coleman expressed his wish to lie in Moncton. He enters
the records as the first Jew to be buried in that city." (Lloyd A. Machum. A
History of Moncton, Town and City, 1855-1965, Moncton, City of Moncton,
1965. p. 311, quoted in House of Life by David Rome.)
SAINT JOHNS:
"The Jewish community of St. John dates back about 140 years. Many of the
early Jewish residents were successful cigar manufacturers. Between the
1920s-1960s, there were as many as 300 Jewish families in St. John.
Unfortunately, as is the case with so many other communities, young people
tend to leave around the age of twenty. I believe that there are only about
40 Jewish families left in St. John.
There is a St. John Jewish Historical Museum, which also houses a Hebrew
school, chapel, mikveh and a modest library. The museum is staffed by Jewish
teenage girls who give tours of the facility. I also believe that there is a
synagogue around the corner from the museum. It may be possible that the
museum can provide information about current or former Jewish residents. If
not, they could probably suggest the pertinent facility in St. John for this
information. St. John Historical Museum, 29 Wellington Row, St. John, New
Brunswick, E2L 3H4 CANADA. e-mail:
sjjhm@nbnet.nb.ca Source: Len
Markowitz at priluki@voicenet.com
[JewishGen Digest, April 2001]
Shaarei Zedek Cemetery: {10499} Nathan Green purchased a lot
southeast of Fernhill as a family plot in 1860. The Green-Hart cemetery has been
used by succeeding generations of the family ever since. Adjacent lots were
bought years later, first by Ahavat Achim congregation, then by the Hazen Avenue
congregation. When they merged to become Shaarei Tzedek congregation, more land
was bought. The Green-Hart plot remains the centre of the enlarged cemetery.
(Boyaner, Eli, "The Settlement and Development of the Jewish Community of Saint
John, N.B., " in 1957 Anniversary Issue of the Eagle, p. 29, paper read at the
New Brunswick Historical Society, and report by JIAS official Samuel Kaplan in
the 1932 anniversary edition of Eagle, p. 68, quoted in House of Life by David
Rome.) Contact the St. John Jewish Historical Museum for more information: e-mail:
sjjhm@nbnet.nb.ca Source: Len Markowitz at
priluki@voicenet.com [JewishGen Digest,
April 2001]
SYNAGOGUES
Beth Israel Synagogue (Orthodox), 1480 Oxford Street, Halifax, NS B3H 3Y8.
Telephone (902) 422-1301 Fax (902) 422-7451. Rabbi Saul Aranov. Baron de Hirsch
Congregation constructed this synagogue called Beth Israel that opened October
21st, 1957. [April 2004]
Shaar Shalom Congregation (Conservative), 1981 Oxford Street, Halifax, NS B3H 4A4.
Telephone (902) 423-5848 Fax (902) 422-2580. Rabbi Elihu Milder. Founded in 1953,
Shaar Shalom Synagogue dedicated on October 31st, 1957. [April 2004]
Chabad Lubavitch of the Maritimes, 67 Chartwell Lane, Halifax, NS B3M 4G4,
Telephone and Fax (902) 457-7698. Rabbi Mendie Feldman. [April 2004]
GLACE BAY:
Contact: Congregation Sons of Israel (Orthodox), Glace Bay, NS, (902) 849-8605
Glace Bay: {10525}
HALIFAX:
Jews arrived in Halifax in 1749, shortly after its
founding. By 1752, thirty Jewish men, women and children from Newport, Rhode
Island moved here. Most were merchants. Samuel Hart, who arrived in 1781,
became the first Jew to serve in a British North American legislative body. An
early town plan allocated a separate, but never utilized, Jewish cemetery near
the corner of Brunswick Street and Spring Garden Road. The site became a jail in
1758. In the 1890s, many Russian immigrants began arriving. In 1891, the Baron
de Hirsch Hebrew Benevolent Society was founded. In 1893, the Society on Windsor
Street purchased a cemetery site near Connaught Avenue. A renovated house at Starr
and Hurd Streets became the synagogue and school. The 1901 Jewish population was
118. The Starr Street Synagogue was destroyed inh a fire in 1917. In 1920, the B
aron de Hirsch Congregation constructed a new synagogue on Robie Street. Proctor
Street Synagogue, referred to as Webber Shul, formed in 1914. The two synagogue
united in 1936. The 1991 Jewish population was 1,480 in the Halifax-Dartmouth
area. [April 2004]
Beth Israel/ Baron de Hirsch cemetery: In 1893 the Baron de
Hirsch Hebrew Benevolent Society purchased a plot of land on the outskirts of
the City. It was located on the western side of Windsor Street, part of the
"Culvie Farm." [The border walls were on Connaught Avenue and Windsor Street.]
In the l950's, the Board of Governors, led by Earle Bowman, spent years
negotiating a land trade with the City, which resulted in increasing the
cemetery lands to permit the alignment of Windsor Street. The Board mapped the
locations of all graves, set out a program for future use of the land and
provided necessary information for the Congregation's records. (…) and initiated
procedures necessary for its ongoing maintenance. Edgar Wolman took over the
Chairmanship of the Cemetery Committee from Irwin Mendleson and served for ten
years. Phil Alberstat had been Chairman for several years giving very dedicated
personal service on a moment's notice. Edgar adhered to that tradition of
personal service and continued the standards of stone design and plot maintenance.
Concrete block footpaths were installed by Max Pascal in 1986 to enable clear
access to each gravesite without walking inadvertently on others. Since 2004,
the entire grounds of the cemetery have been undergoing a reconstruction including
resetting all stones on new bases, constructing new walkways and retaining walls
and planting new sod and shrubs. The exterior walls have been re-pointed and the
entrances re-set. All of this work was paid for by a single donor who chooses
to remain anonymous. An ongoing committee of several members including Jack
Prince, Steven Pink, Ralph Loebenberg, Phil Alberstat, Frank Medjuck, Sharron
Ross, Abe Leventhal and Victor Fineberg supervised this project and commenced an
Endowment Fund for the future care and maintenance of the cemetery in perpetuity.
This project also enabled the creation of additional gravesites and the opening
of a new adjacent site that more than doubles the current capacity. This avoids
the necessity of finding a remote and disconnected site elsewhere. Contact Beth
Israel Synagogue (Orthodox) Halifax, NS, Rabbi Yaakov Weiss
rabbi@thebethisrael.com, Phone:
(902) 422-1301. Source:
http://www.thebethisrael.com/cemetery/index.html
Shaar Sholim: Jews arrived in Halifax in 1749, shortly after its
founding. …An early town plan allocated a separate, but never utilized, Jewish
cemetery near the corner of Brunswick Street and Spring Garden Road. The site
became a jail in 1758. In 1891, the Baron de Hirsch Hebrew Benevolent Society
was founded. In 1893, the Society on Windsor Street purchased a cemetery site
near Connaught Avenue (see Baron de Hirsch cemetery.).
NEW GLASGOW:
Jewish Cemetery: {10919}. There are only 9 names. The cemetery
is on the road from New Glasgow toward Little Harbor. Source: Don Nicholson e-mail:
Aldunia@aol.com
YARMOUTH:
"In 1986, when it was evident the Yarmouth Jewish community was no longer in a
position to manage the synagogue financially, and on the initiative of the
leaders of the Yarmouth community, the synagogue and all its contents was deeded
to the Shaar Shalom congregation in Halifax for safekeeping and administration."
Source: http://www.theajc.ns.ca/yarmouth.php
Yarmouth : {10498}
PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND
No listings for any Jewish-sounding cemetery names appear in what seems to be a
complete listing for PEI cemeteries, at http://www.islandregister.com/cem.html
Contact: PEI Jewish Community, PO Box 21128, RPO University, Charlottetown PEI
C1A 9H6, (902) 368-7337.
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