Cemetery reserves a place for the Jewish community

In the sprawling grounds of the West Laurel Hill Cemetery in Bala Cynwyd, a portion of the 187-acre tract was dedicated yesterday as a Jewish burial site.

West Laurel Hill Cemetery has a rich history spanning more than a century, but until yesterday, its land was rarely used by the Jewish community.

"We are a historic cemetery with nondenominational roots, but it also carries over an early Quaker heritage to be open to people of all faiths," said Pete Hoskins, the president and chief executive officer of West Laurel Hill.

Hoskins said the Jewish community in Philadelphia and Lower Merion Township had been traveling to cemeteries in Chester and Delaware counties, and sometimes New Jersey to bury their loved ones. The Jewish section of the cemetery, Hoskins said, will allow the community to stay true to its religious rituals and teachings and accommodate the growing Orthodox Jewish population in the nearby area.

The Jewish site at West Laurel Hill will have 1,500 burial spaces, including a portion that will specifically accommodate Orthodox burials.

"There is a young, vibrant Jewish community here," said Rabbi Avraham Shmidman of the Lower Merion Synagogue. "It provides an opportunity to have a Jewish cemetery within our community and strengthen our local community."

On an empty plot of land in the cemetery yesterday afternoon, Shmidman, Hoskins and Lower Merion Commissioner George Manos were among those who unveiled a stone marking the future location of the Jewish tract.

Shmidman described burials as the most divine of Jewish acts, and thanked West Laurel Hill for supporting a successful partnership with the Jewish community.

The Jewish burial site is expected to open next spring.