The Beth Olam Cemetery is a historic cemetery in

Cypress Hills, Brooklyn East New York is a residential neighborhood in the eastern section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. Its boundaries, starting from the north and moving clockwise, are roughly the Cemetery Belt and the Queens borough line to the north; ...

, New York, United States. It is located in the city's

Cemetery Belt The Rural Cemetery Act was a law passed by the New York Legislature on April 27, 1847, that authorized commercial burial grounds in rural New York state. The law led to burial of human remains becoming a commercial business for the first time, re ...

, bisected by the border between

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

and

Queens Queens is the largest by area of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located near the western end of Long Island, it is bordered by the ...

. It is a

rural cemetery A rural cemetery or garden cemetery is a style of cemetery that became popular in the United States and Europe in the mid-19th century due to the overcrowding and health concerns of urban cemeteries, which tended to be churchyards. Rural cemeter ...

in style, and was started in 1851 by three Manhattan Jewish congregations:

Congregation Shearith Israel The Congregation Shearith Israel (), often called The Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue, is an Orthodox Jewish synagogue located at 2 West 70th Street, at Central Park West, on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City, New York, Unit ...

(Spanish Portuguese) on West 70th Street, B'nai Jeshurun on West 89th Street, and Temple Shaaray Tefila on East 79th Street. In 1882,

Calvert Vaux Calvert Vaux Fellow of the American Institute of Architects, FAIA (; December 20, 1824 – November 19, 1895) was an English-American architect and landscape architect, landscape designer. He and his protégé Frederick Law Olmsted designed park ...

was commissioned to design a small, red brick Metaher house or place of purification and pre-burial eulogies, near the entrance to the Shearith Israel section, and also designed its gates. It is the only religious building that Vaux, the co-designer of

Central Park Central Park is an urban park between the Upper West Side and Upper East Side neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City, and the first landscaped park in the United States. It is the List of parks in New York City, sixth-largest park in the ...

, is known to have designed. Many mausoleum windows are made with Tiffany stained glass and LaFarge bronze doors. The burial ground contains many examples of architecture and

funerary art Funerary art is any work of art forming, or placed in, a repository for the remains of the death, dead. The term encompasses a wide variety of forms, including cenotaphs ("empty tombs"), tomb-like monuments which do not contain human remains, a ...

Notable burials

* Joseph Mayor Asher (1872–1908), English-born American rabbi of B'nai Jeshurun and professor at the

Jewish Theological Seminary of America The Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS) is a Conservative Jewish education organization in New York City, New York. It is one of the academic and spiritual centers of Conservative Judaism as well as a hub for academic scholarship in Jewish studies ...

* Nathan Bijur (1862–1930), American lawyer and

New York Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the State of New York is the superior court in the Judiciary of New York. It is vested with unlimited civil and criminal jurisdiction, although in many counties outside New York City it acts primarily as a court of civil ju ...

Justice * Abraham Cohn (1832–1897),

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

Union Army soldier and recipient of the

Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest Awards and decorations of the United States Armed Forces, military decoration and is awarded to recognize American United States Army, soldiers, United States Navy, sailors, Un ...

* Abraham Lopes Cardozo (1914–2006), Dutch-born

hazzan A ''hazzan'' (; , lit. Hazan) or ''chazzan'' (, plural ; ; ) is a Jewish musician or precentor trained in the vocal arts who leads the congregation in songful prayer. In English, this prayer leader is often referred to as a cantor, a term al ...

of Congregation Shearith Israel *

Benjamin Cardozo Benjamin Nathan Cardozo (May 24, 1870 – July 9, 1938) was an American lawyer and jurist who served on the New York Court of Appeals from 1914 to 1932 and as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1932 until his deat ...

(1870–1938), American lawyer and Associate Justice of the

Supreme Court of the United States The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all Federal tribunals in the United States, U.S. federal court cases, and over Stat ...

Emanuel Lasker Emanuel Lasker (; December 24, 1868 – January 11, 1941) was a German chess player, mathematician, and philosopher. He was the second World Chess Champion, holding the title for 27 years, from 1894 to 1921, the longest reign of any officially ...

(1868–1941), German chess player, second

World Chess Champion The World Chess Championship is played to determine the world champion in chess. The current world champion is Gukesh Dommaraju, who defeated the previous champion Ding Liren in the World Chess Championship 2024, 2024 World Chess Championship. ...

. *

Emma Lazarus Emma Lazarus (July 22, 1849 – November 19, 1887) was an American author of poetry, prose, and translations, as well as an activist for Jewish and Georgism, Georgist causes. She is remembered for writing the sonnet "The New Colossus", which wa ...

(1849–1887), American author, poet, and activist, who wrote the sonnet "

The New Colossus "The New Colossus" is a sonnet by American poet Emma Lazarus (1849–1887). She wrote the poem in 1883 to raise money for the construction of a pedestal for the Statue of Liberty (''Liberty Enlightening the World''). In 1903, the poem was cast ...

" describing the

Statue of Liberty The Statue of Liberty (''Liberty Enlightening the World''; ) is a colossal neoclassical sculpture on Liberty Island in New York Harbor, within New York City. The copper-clad statue, a gift to the United States from the people of French Thir ...

; niece of Jacques Judah Lyons * Uriah P. Levy (1792–1862), American naval officer, real estate investor, philanthropist, and the first Jewish Commodore of the United States Navy * Jacques Judah Lyons (1814–1877), Surinamese-born American rabbi of

; uncle of Emma Lazarus *

Henry Pereira Mendes Henry Pereira Mendes (, 13 April 1852 – 21 October 1937), was an American rabbi who was born in Birmingham, England and died in New York City. He was also known as Haim Pereira Mendes. Family history and education Henry Pereira Mendes was bor ...

(1852–1937) British-born American rabbi of Congregation Shearith Israel * Benjamin F. Peixotto (1834–1890), American lawyer and diplomat *

Judith Salzedo Peixotto Judith Salzedo Hays (December 30, 1823 – March 1, 1881) was a Jewish-American teacher and principal from New York. Life Peixotto was born on December 30, 1823, in New York City, New York New York, often called New York City (NYC), is th ...

(1823–1881), American teacher and principal * N. Taylor Phillips (1868–1955), American lawyer and politician *

David de Sola Pool David de Sola Pool (;‎ 1885–1970) was a British-born American rabbi, scholar, author, and civic leader. He is considered to be the leading 20th-century Sephardic rabbi in the United States and a world leader of Judaism. Biography Early lif ...

(1885–1970), British-born American rabbi of Congregation Shearith Israel * Moses J. Stroock (1866–1931), American lawyer

References

External links

* {{Jewish cemeteries in New York City 1851 establishments in New York (state) Buildings and structures completed in 1851 National Register of Historic Places in Brooklyn National Register of Historic Places in Queens, New York Georgian architecture in New York (state) Cemeteries established in the 1850s Cemeteries in Brooklyn Cypress Hills, Brooklyn Jewish cemeteries in New York City

Notable burials

See also

References

External links