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Our Mission

THE MISSION OF THE OHEB SHALOM CEMETERY ASSOCIATION is to provide the best possible continuing care to the final resting place of Jewish persons and their families. We do this in a sympathetic and consoling manner in our dealings with survivors, families, and friends. We abide by all aspects of the Conservative Jewish burial process, tradition, and law. We treat all vendors and service providers in a fair and honest manner. We will manage, support, and preserve our resources to carry out this mission.

Our History

At the close of the nineteenth century, a group of congregants from Oheb Shalom, then located on Prince Street in Newark, New Jersey, led by Emanuel Abeles, Isidore Grand and Meyer Kussy decided to acquire land to develop a conservative Jewish cemetery. They settled on a three acre parcel in Hillside, New Jersey. They organized a board, Manny Abeles was elected chairman and dividing the land into available plots, developed a fee arrangement including perpetual care and planned for a Chapel House that would accommodate funerals and also house a groundskeeper and his family on the second floor.

At inception, the Cemetery was structured to be independent financially from the Oheb Shalom Congregation although it certainly was and is a very close relative. The cornerstone for the building was laid in 1900. Plots were sold, and Oheb Shalom Cemetery has been in continuous operation for the past 115 years.

The Current Situation

The Cemetery is still operated as an independent corporation, owned by the plotholders and managed by a Board of Trustees. In total, their are about 3,000 plots of which 1,200 are occupied. Another hundred or so are sold and reserved. The balance are for sale. Plots including perpetual care sell for $2,000 to members of the Congregation. Non members pay 120% of the member charges. The physical plant is cared for by the Epstein Company which cares for almost all of the Jewish Cemeteries in Northern New Jersey. The neighborhood has changed, cremations are becoming more common, and large suburban Jewish cemeteries have opened in Woodbridge and other outlying communities. Sales of new plots has been slow for a number of years, averaging 4-5 per year. To renovate the cemetery and return it to a serene, safe, and economically stable place has become the current Board's highest priority.