The 116-year-old, 70-acre Montefiore Cemetery in Jenkintown is one of the oldest and largest Jewish cemeteries in the Philadelphia area. Many Jewish veterans have been buried there over the years, but it has never had a dedicated section for Jewish vets.
That changed on May 17, when the cemetery unveiled a section with a monument and space for more than 500 graves, according to Bruce Jaffe, a family service director and sales manager at Montefiore.
“It gives them the feel of a national cemetery but also the opportunity of a Jewish burial,” Jaffe said.
Nelson Mellitz, the past national commander of the Jewish War Veterans of the USA, spoke at the ceremony to unveil the monument and section. The Cherry Hill resident served in the Air Force for 32 years, including during the Vietnam and Iraq wars, and retired as a colonel. For three-plus decades, he has also been a tireless advocate for Jewish veterans through JWV.
“The millions of Jews that served in the military in the last 250 years actually are being recognized with this monument,” he said. “We have been serving our country since the Revolution and since before the Revolution, and I know we’ll continue to serve.”
Jaffe has been working at Montefiore for 16 years, but his father’s family has been buried there since 1923. Jaffe’s father was a veteran, having served in the Korean War. Near the end of his life, he repeatedly told his son that he wanted the 13-step flag-folding ritual to be conducted over his casket when it was his time.
The ritual starts with the flag draped over the casket. It is then folded into a triangular shape to represent the tri-cornered hats worn by Revolutionary War soldiers. After the ceremony, it is passed along to the next-of-kin to be taken home as a family heirloom.
Jaffe recognized over the years that this ritual was important to his father. But when he started working at Montefiore, he saw that his dad wasn’t alone.
“I saw how meaningful it was for families to have that done,” Jaffe said.
But something else was important, too: a Jewish burial. Jaffe would often ask the families of Jewish veterans why they didn’t just go to the national military cemetery at Washington Crossing in Bucks County. It would be free there, he explained.
They told him they wanted a military burial and a Jewish ceremony. They also often had to wait 2-3 months at a national cemetery.
“We have a lot of veterans buried here, back to World War I. It’s important for people to have a Jewish burial,” Jaffe said.
These conversations with military families sparked an idea: a dedicated section for Jewish veterans at Montefiore. Jaffe came up with the idea about 12 years ago, but he kept going back and forth between a memorial and a dedicated section.
“We started playing with a bunch of different ideas, and nothing really stuck,” he said.
Finally, two years ago, he decided to start the section with 102 graves. That would allow it to remain available for a long time and offer space for a monument, too. The effort didn’t require extra fundraising. Montefiore had the funds. The cemetery is also holding up to 400 more graves for future expansion of the section.
“Let’s start with that, and we’ll put up the memorial there,” he said. “I’m glad we didn’t rush in to do what we originally did, because I think this is so much more meaningful to the people who have come out and seen it.”
The monument lists all six branches of the U.S. military. It also features an American flag and Hebrew text. Montefiore advertised the new section on montefiore.us and in Philadelphia Jewish Exponent, and Jaffe’s phone has been ringing constantly about it.
Also, for the first time in his 16 years at the cemetery, residents are stopping by to take pictures. They want to see the monument.
“It’s starting to get momentum,” Jaffe said.
Any veteran and their spouse can purchase a plot for a reduced rate, which saves between $5,000 and $6,000 compared to a normal rate, according to Jaffe. The family director estimates that the section will fill out in about 15-20 years. At that point, it will just be full.
“You know, like, Arlington National Cemetery is going to run out of ground at some point,” he said.