Strain on Manchester burials

Facilities for Jewish burial in Manchester are under strain after a fire which gutted the Jewish mortuary at North Manchester General Hospital.

Interim facilities to perform the taharot, the halachic cleansing rituals before burial, have been arranged at

More..

Bath cemetery gets second stage of repairs

Stage two of a £50,000 renovation of the 200-year-old Jewish burial ground in Bath has been completed thanks to donors including LibDem Councillor Cherry Beath.

The Grade II-listed early 19th century prayer house served the small Bath community in 1812 but was abandoned as members moved to Bristol in the early 1900s. It was in danger of collapse before the repairs.

More..

Exhumation fears calmed at Jewish cemetery

The Environment Agency has tried to calm fears that bodies could be disturbed at the Federation of Synagogues’ oldest cemetery because of flood protection work.

Local residents were alarmed to see a recent notice from the agency warning of exhumation and the removal of memorials at Tottenham Park Cemetery, next to the Federation cemetery in Edmonton, north London.

More..

Manchester running out of burial space

Manchester Jewry is facing a burial crisis after it was revealed that local cemeteries have less than 10,000 spaces vacant, insufficient to bury the synagogue members currently signed up to burial boards. Some burial plots are being sold twice and there is not the finance to expand supply.

More..

Death of controversial Manchester rabbi

One of the most controversial rabbis to serve the Manchester community has died in Israel.

Rabbi Ivan Wachmann has died aged 77 . He was the longtime minister of the Holy Law South Broughton Hebrew Congregation, but was dismissed in 1990 after a series of allegations about sexual misconduct.

More..

Shoah tribute leads £1m plan for cemeteries

A permanent Holocaust memorial at one of Manchester’s largest Jewish cemeteries is among a raft of improvements planned for dilapidated burial grounds.

More..

'Coffin tax' hits Southport shul

Merseyside’s Sefton Council is introducing a “coffin tax” which threatens the future of the small Southport Hebrew Congregation.

On Thursday of last week, the council’s cabinet passed budgetary measures which will see an increase in burial costs at the local authority’s Duke Street cemetery from £750 to £900.

More..

Prayer that makes past present

Last year, I took part in a remarkable ceremony at the Rose Garden in Oxford, beneath which lies the medieval Jewish cemetery, abandoned in 1290 when the entire Jewish community of England was abruptly expelled by Edward I. We had gathered to unveil a plaque to commemorate the site and recite Kaddish for those buried there.

More..

Jewish burial for Michael Winner

Food writer and film director Michael Winner has been buried at a Jewish cemetery.

The 77-year-old, who died on Monday after being diagnosed with liver disease last summer, was buried at Willesden Jewish Cemetery.

More..