Ahavas Chesed Cemetery, is a historic

Jewish cemetery A Jewish cemetery ( ''beit almin'' or ''beit kvarot'') is a cemetery where Jews are buried in keeping with Halakha, Jewish tradition. Cemeteries are referred to in several different ways in Hebrew, including ''beit kevarot'' (house of s ...

located in

Mobile, Alabama Mobile ( , ) is a city and the county seat of Mobile County, Alabama, United States. The population was 187,041 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. After a successful vote to annex areas west of the city limits in July 2023, Mobil ...

, United States. It was established by the Ahavas Chesed congregation in 1898. It covers about of land in a narrow strip that adjoins the

Sha'arai Shomayim Cemetery Sha'arai Shomayim Cemetery, also known as the Reformed Temple Jewish Cemetery, is a historic Jewish cemetery located in Mobile, Alabama, United States. It was established by Congregation Sha'arai Shomayim in 1876 after their previous cemetery, Je ...

.Sledge, John Sturdivant. ''Cities of Silence: A Guide to Mobile's Historic Cemeteries'', pages 80-89. Tuscaloosa, Alabama: University of Alabama Press, 2002.

History

The late 19th century saw an influx of

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

and

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural and socio-economic connotations. Its eastern boundary is marked by the Ural Mountain ...

Orthodox Jews Orthodox Judaism is a collective term for the traditionalist branches of contemporary Judaism. Theologically, it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah, both Written and Oral, as literally revealed by God on Mount Sinai and faithfully tr ...

(now

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

) to Mobile, joining the well-established

Reform Jewish Reform Judaism, also known as Liberal Judaism or Progressive Judaism, is a major Jewish denomination that emphasizes the evolving nature of Judaism, the superiority of its ethical aspects to its ceremonial ones, and belief in a continuous rev ...

community, started by German Jewish immigrants to the city. The newcomers began meeting in the home of Jacob Levinson in 1894 and called themselves Ahavas Chesed, or "Love of Kindness." They purchased a site for burials on September 29, 1898, adjacent to the

of the Reform congregation, where their dead could be buried with stricter adherence to ancient Jewish custom than is practiced by other congregations. The group converted a home at the corner of Conti and Warren Streets into a

synagogue A synagogue, also called a shul or a temple, is a place of worship for Jews and Samaritans. It is a place for prayer (the main sanctuary and sometimes smaller chapels) where Jews attend religious services or special ceremonies such as wed ...

in 1908 and by 1911 had built a new building on that same site. The congregation moved to a new synagogue on Dauphin Street in 1956 and then moved again in 1990 to their present location on Regents Way. The congregation of Ahavas Chesed utilize a ''

chevra kadisha The term ''chevra kadisha'' () gained its modern sense of "burial society" in the nineteenth century. It is an organization of Jewish men and women who see to it that the bodies of deceased Jews are prepared for burial according to Jewish tra ...

''. The dead are not embalmed prior to interment; instead, the preparers ritually wash the body within a few hours after death and clothe it in simple white garments. The body is placed in a simple wooden coffin, which is kept closed at the funeral service. In the cemetery, the headstones are all roughly the same size, to show equality in the eyes of God.

References

{{Mobile, Alabama Cemeteries in Mobile, Alabama German-American culture in Alabama German-Jewish culture in the United States Jewish cemeteries in Alabama Jews and Judaism in Mobile, Alabama Russian-Jewish culture in the United States 1898 establishments in Alabama Cemeteries established in the 1890s