By Marshall Weiss, The Dayton Jewish Observer

Thanks to an anonymous donor’s matching gift of $450,000, the Jewish Cemeteries of Greater Dayton project has the potential to raise $900,000 over the next two and a half years. With the $3 million Jewish Cemeteries has already raised, that would easily put it across its threshold of $3.5 million to become operational.

This means that Beth Abraham Synagogue, Beth Jacob Congregation, and Temple Israel will be able to combine their cemetery operations into a single nonprofit entity, separate from the congregations’ operating budgets.

The matching gift has brought new momentum to the Jewish Cemeteries campaign, which had stalled since the Covid pandemic. A behind-the-scenes announcement of the match has already brought in $150,000 in new and increased gifts to the project since November.

“This generous anonymous donor understands the profound importance of preserving our cemeteries,” said Bruce Feldman, co-chair of Jewish Cemeteries of Greater Dayton’s fundraising committee. “This philanthropist’s donation, combined with the matching structure, will undoubtedly help us achieve our goal. Every contribution is vital, and if this matching gift inspires others to contribute to this sacred cause, it will have an even greater impact.”

According to the anonymous donor’s attorney, Jewish Cemeteries of Greater Dayton will receive matching fund checks in June 2025, 2026, and 2027. Jewish Cemeteries will provide the donor with a list of funds it raises by June each of those years; the donor will then cut a check for each match.

“The beauty and integrity of these cemeteries cannot be understated,” the donor told The Observer in an email interview facilitated by the individual’s attorney. “They must be maintained in perpetuity just as the individuals within their grounds must be remembered.”

The donor had considered this gift for a while; the passing of immediate family members, the recent surge of antisemitism, and overall concern about the Dayton Jewish community played parts in the decision to move forward.

The donor’s family has a plot in one of Dayton’s Jewish cemeteries. “Within these cemetery grounds lie Holocaust survivors, including members of my own family,” the donor explained. “Their survivals are a testament to the strength of the Jewish people. We too need to be remembered and our places in history maintained.”

The boards of Beth Abraham Synagogue, Beth Jacob Congregation, and Temple Israel agreed in December 2017 to initiate the Jewish Cemeteries project. Their agreement stipulated that before any formal consolidation could take place, the new nonprofit had to be fully funded in perpetuity through an endowment.

The idea to consolidate the cemeteries into one organization came from the late Bart Weprin when he served as president of Temple Israel. Feldman initially cochaired the project’s steering committee with Dr. Robert Goldenberg, who then served as Jewish Cemeteries of Greater Dayton’s first president. Its current president is Mark Feuer.

The project’s aim is to save money on the operations of the three cemeteries, which have become financial drains for each of the congregations.

Cincinnati’s Jewish community had already combined 24 of its 27 Jewish cemeteries into Jewish Cemeteries of Greater Cincinnati in 2008.

Nearly 175 years of Dayton Jewish history
Beth Jacob Cemetery, located on Old Troy Pike in Dayton, opened in 1875. Temple Israel’s Riverview Cemetery on West Schantz Avenue dates to 1889. Its Founders Circle comprises remains of those who had been buried in its first cemetery, which dated to 1851 and went out of use when Riverview Cemetery opened.

Adjacent to Riverview Cemetery is Beth Abraham Synagogue Cemetery, which opened in 1894.

Temple Beth Or, now 40 years old, has its own section of more than 100 plots at David’s Cemetery in Kettering.

“The design of this matching gift is not only remarkably generous, but true to the essence of tzedakah (righteous giving),” said Julie Liss-Katz, cochair of Jewish Cemeteries of Greater Dayton’s fundraising committee.

“The energy it has brought to our campaign is palpable. It has inspired our fundraisers and donors alike and made the dream of creating an endowment to care for the eternal homes of generations of Jewish Daytonians a reality. We will be forever grateful.”

The anonymous donor challenges all members of the Dayton area Jewish community to contribute to the matching campaign. “The adage ‘You can’t take it with you’ is appropriate here,” this individual said. “If you are going to be among the dead in one of these cemeteries, you might as well maintain your permanent home.”

To make a donation to Jewish Cemeteries of Greater Dayton that will be matched dollar for dollar, contact Administrative Manager Kate Elder at kelder@jfgd.net.

To read the complete January 2025 Dayton Jewish Observer, click here.