First Jewish Interfaith Cemetery in Canada
Image by iStock
Winnipeg’s Shaarey Zedek, western Canada’s largest Conservative synagogue, is once again ahead of the curve. The congregation, which was the first Conservative shul in Canada to fully welcome and include LGBT Jews, has now opened the first Jewish interfaith cemetery in the country.
Ian Staniloff, Shaarey Zedek’s executive director, said that the interfaith cemetery is a response to demographic realities. “We are serving a growing need in our community. The Winnipeg Jewish community numbers about 16 thousand and up to 70% of our young people are marrying outside the faith,” he told the National Post. “In the past, the Jewish spouse was forced to make a decision — either be buried by themselves in a Jewish manner in a Jewish cemetery or be buried with their partner elsewhere.”
The new cemetery, which is located next to the congregation’s traditional Jewish cemetery (which dates back to the early 20th century), is available for use by Shaarey Zedek members and non-members alike. In accordance with Halacha, the interfaith cemetery is separated from the traditional one by a wrought iron fence and a roadway. It also has its own separate entrance.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and the protests on college campuses.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
