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| Photo
by Elizheva R. Hurvich |
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The Hebrew Mutual Cemetery was founded in 1857
by a group of Dutch Jews. They also started B'nai Israel Congregation,
or the Hollander Synagogue. The cemetery was a miniature replica
of Amsterdam's Muyderberg Cemetery. It contains approximately 440
burial sites, primarily Ashkenazi Jews of Dutch origin. Among them
are veterans of both Civil and Spanish-American Wars, as well as
several people of historical importance. The cemetery is the only
one in the Philadelphia area built by Dutch settlers of any faith.
Background
In the late eighteenth century, Napoleon Bonaparte liberated
Holland's Jews. While liberation allowed greater economic opportunity
and mobility, the religious autonomy enjoyed by Jews under Dutch
rule was not just threatened, but eroded as the French imposed regulations
forcing "the Jewish nation to become merely a religious congregation
of assimilated individual citizens in a unified state."¹
Robert Sweriegna calls this a "Dutchification" of Judaism,
where the language of the synagogue changed as did schooling. "The
net result of these myriad economic and religious problems resulting
from the Napoleonic conquest and wars was that Dutch Ashkenazic
Jews began to emigrate to the United States in the first decades
of the nineteenth century."¹
Congregation B'nai Israel
During the mid-nineteenth century, the Jewish community of Philadelphia
was divided among various nationalities, including Jews of Dutch,
German, and Russian descent. During this time American sunagogues
were based on the nationality and experiences of the Jewish immigrants.
In 1855, Philadelphia's Dutch Jews established the B'nai Israel
Congregation in South Philadelphia."None of the pure Dutch
congregations survived the second generation and by 1905 all had
closed. Several of their cemetery and benevolent associations, however,
continued for generations."¹
This was the fifth synagogue in Philadelphia which
H. S. Morais described in 1894 as having been "at one time
a Congregation of some importance [which] held services on the east
side of Fifth Street above Catherine Street, in a building which
had been altered into a Synagogue. It was known as the 'Bene Israel'
(Children of Israel) Congregation, being founded by Hollanders (some
of whom were among early settlers in this city and country) in 1852."
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Photo
by Elizheva R. Hurvich |
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Hebrew Mutual Benefit and Benevolent Society
of Brotherly Love
The Hebrew Mutual Benefit and Benevolent Society of Brotherly Love
was formed in 1856 by members of B'nai Israel to provide financial
assistance for the sick, for familes of members who died, and for
synagogue expenses. In 1995, Steve Feldman reported in the Jewish
Exponent that according to historian M. Botwinick, "the
cemetery ground was purchased in 1857 by B'nai Israel. A short time
later it was sold or taken over by Hebrew Mutual.
B'nai Israel Disbands
By the late 1870's, due to significant German Jewish immigration,
Dutch Jews became a small minority and were integrated into the
German Jewish community. B'nai Israel membership declined, and the
congregation continued to suffer from financial difficulties.
On March 3, 1878, B'nai Israel opened a Hebrew
school. Perhaps this was an effort to bring more people in or to
raise income. However the effort failed and less than a year later,
in 1879, the congregation disbanded and its members transferred
to other synagogues.
As the descendants of those buried in the Hebrew
Mutual Burial Ground became more removed from these ancestors, both
in the passage of time and physically by moving away, membership
in the society dwindled. The society had scrupulously maintained
and managed the cemetery for more than 90 years; however, with a
dying membership and lack of funds they were unable to maintain
the cemetery and it was abandoned in the late 1960's.
Sadly, this once lovely area became neglected,
vandalized and filled with trash, listed on the City's roster of
abandoned properties. After learning the tragic story of the cemetery,
in the mid-1990's the Synagogue-Federation Council of Greater Philadelphia
and the Board of Rabbis of Greater Philadelphia organized volunteers
to clean-up the half-acre site. In 1999, a new non-profit corporation,
the Association for the Preservation of Abandoned Jewish Cemeteries,
formed in order to preserve the site and successfully petitioned
to assume legal ownership of the property.
Portions
of the preceding text were taken from a paper written by Elisheva
R. Hurvich : "B'nai Israel/Hebrew Mutual Burial Ground: A Piece
of the Dutch Jewish History of Philadelphia".
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