First Holocaust Memorial at a Progressive Judaism cemetery
Moving ceremony at Woodland Cemetery in Cheshunt, which serves Progressive, Masorti and Independent Jewish communities
The Jewish Joint Burial Society dedicated its first ever Holocaust Memorial, located at the Woodland Cemetery, Cheshunt, with a special service and ceremony, on Sunday 7th June.
Led by Reform Rabbi Dr Jackie Tabick – with readings from Leo Baeck College principal Rabbi Professor Deborah Kahn-Harris and Movement for Progressive Judaism co-lead Rabbi Charley Baginsky – the service blended traditional memorial prayers, Yiddish songs, poetry and the writings of Holocaust survivor Rabbi Albert Friedlander.
Attendees included representatives of many of the 46 Progressive, Masorti and Independent communities served by JJBS, as well as the Mayor of Broxbourne, Councillor Patsy Spears.
Steve Wynne, outgoing chair of the Jewish Joint Burial Society said: “It has long been our desire for the Society to have such a memorial on our grounds, and I am pleased that we have now been able to achieve this.
“We just marked the 82nd anniversary of the D-Day landings. This began the journey which ended with the world learning about the Shoah and stopped the further deaths of so many innocents. This memorial is for all those who died in those horrific times and for years after, their families and descendants.”
The stone stands at the entrance to the Woodland Cemetery and a weeping willow will be added to the grounds in October to commemorate those murdered by Hamas in the 7 October 2023 terrorist atrocity.
The Woodland Cemetery gives people the choice to be buried in an ecologically-friendly manner.
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