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The Religious Protective Association of Greater New York of which Jacob Shapiro is president, has started a movement to remove the evils alleged to exist in the management and administration of Jewish cemeteries. Mr. Shapiro’s organization has affiliated with it many leading congregations and Jewish fraternal and benevolent societies.
In a statement yesterday Mr. Shapiro made public the reform program adopted last Sunday at a convention of 500 delegates representing organizations affiliated with the protective association.
The program calls for abolition of the contract system whereby cemetery superintendents are permitted to obtain concessions which enable them to put a tax on various activities at the cemeteries, such as grave digging, grass cutting, monument construction, etc.; abolition of unnecessary salaried presidents, managers and secretaries of cemeteries: creation of a perpetual fund, so that the interest of the cemeteries may be preserved as required by law; reduction in the charges now made for opening graves and other services, and more humane and courteous treatment.
“Under the present system,” Mr. Shapiro explained, “the superintendent of a cemetery, by paying a certain sum into the cemetery treasury, is given the privilege of imposing a tax on various services performed at the cemetery. Usually the superintendent charges all the traffic will bear. This should be done away with. The services of presidents, managers and secretaries of cemeteries now performed in many cases by one and the same man, are unnecessary. This system costs the cemeteries many thousands of dollars in salaries in addition to the money lost through rake-offs charged by these officials for all land sold. All this money should go into the cemetery fund. The law says that cemeteries should not be operated for profit. Today they are making millions of dollars in profits. It is high time a stop be put to this.
“It is high time that the abusive and discourteous treatment accorded to many by the management of cemeteries, many instances of which have been reported to us, be stopped. It is high time also that something be done to obtain courtesy and humane treatment during the hour of sorrow in the cemetery. Instead, we have found that relatives of the deceased are insulted by stupid employees and managers. We also intend to put a stop to repair work and other kinds of labor being performed in Jewish cemeteries on Saturday and on Jewish holidays. This is in violation of the Jewish law.”
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