JCBA’s youth engagement brings new life to sacred spaces
'Long before kids have to come to a cemetery for very emotional reasons, there can be interesting reasons — teachable moments — and very beautiful reasons to be at a cemetery'
The first visit to a cemetery shouldn’t be to bury Bubbie. At least that’s how Kelly Schwimer sees it. Since taking the helm of the Jewish Cemetery and Burial Association 18 months ago, Schwimer has helped strengthen the organization’s operations, raised thousands of dollars in grants and donations, and worked to increase its profile, especially among the young.
The latter, she said, reflects a deliberate effort to not only bolster JCBA and demystify death but ensure a promising future for the region.
Most children — let alone most people — don’t envision career paths involving cemetery work; still, keeping these places cared for with “dignity for perpetuity, means the work must start now, and we need to get our Jewish youth to understand their role,” she said.
During the past year, Schwimer and other stakeholders have focused on improving internal systems while developing age appropriate ways to boost interest in burial work.
Haliel Selig, regional director of Keystone Mountain Region BBYO, brought several teens to a cemetery months ago where JCBA staffers had orchestrated a meaningful cleanup activity.
“I was really blown away by what Kelly and her staff were doing,” Selig said.
Volunteers, ranging in age from teens to college-aged students, learned about the space, “shoveled gravel, just got their hands dirty, and with no complaints, all smiles,” Selig said. “It was so inspiring to me to see our next generation care about the previous generations.”
Creating reverence and connectedness is the heart of JCBA’s efforts, Schwimer explained.
“These cemeteries are enriched with history — family history, city history, people’s history — that remains unknown to most,” she said. “If we start by promoting the history in a cemetery, the traditions and rituals will follow.”
JCBA traces its roots to 1992 when its precursor, the Hebrew Burial Association of Pittsburgh (originally called Chesed Shel Emeth, and incorporated on June 4, 1910) merged with the United Jewish Federation Cemetery Association. Before the unification, HBA had spent decades managing cemeteries belonging to closed congregations and benevolent organizations. With the start of JCBA, that work expanded. During the next 30 years, JCBA took ownership of several cemeteries and continued aiding other local burial sites.
The organization currently maintains, owns and supervises 45 cemeteries, according to JCBA tax filings.
For the organization, beautifying grounds is one task. Keeping history alive is another, Schwimer said. Along with operating routine volunteer cleanups, which “we’ve done quite successfully,” JCBA plans on making cemetery outings more educational.
The Jewish professional identified youth groups and Jewish day schools as natural partners along with bar and bat mitzvah-aged Pittsburghers.
Discussing the possibilities ahead, Schwimer described a potential program that could continue cemetery maintenance while conveying the work’s importance to a new generation: “twinning.”
By pairing volunteer youth with family sections in local cemeteries, participating students, Schwimer said, can “learn the history of our families, take care of those sections, say prayers during High Holidays and even place flags by veterans’ graves during Memorial Day.”
Death doesn’t have to define every aspect of Jewish burial, she explained.
“Long before kids have to come to a cemetery for very emotional reasons, there can be interesting reasons — teachable moments — and very beautiful reasons to be at a cemetery,” she said.
These initiatives are supported by grants from the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh and the Federation’s SteelTree Fund.
Days before officially joining JCBA on June 16, Rachel Bassin, the organization’s newest hire, said she understands why peers and younger Jews have historically lacked interest in burial work.
“It can seem overwhelming and scary, so taking away stigma and fear is important,” Bassin, 22, said.
Before becoming JCBA’s operations coordinator, Bassin worked for the Jewish Cemetery Association of Massachusetts.
She mentioned cemeteries in New England that had been abandoned and said, “I don’t want that happening to anyone’s loved ones. The work has to get done and people have to know their loved ones are being taken care of after they die.”
Bassin, a recent graduate of Denison University, said she’s eager to come to Pittsburgh and promote JCBA’s work especially as it relates to teaming up with a younger demographic.
“Cemeteries are a necessary aspect of human life,” she said. “People die. It’s a sad part of life, but a true thing, and it’s important not to overlook what happens after. It’s important to take care of people’s family members.”
In working with teens, Selig said she stresses the value of looking beyond the present and considering life “outside your world.” It isn’t necessarily easy for people to imagine “what comes next,” but the process produces “core Jewish values,” she continued. “You pass something on to them. You leave a legacy so when you move on, they know how to keep that legacy alive.”
That’s what JCBA is trying to do: Demonstrate the work’s weight so the next generation can continue the endeavor, Schwimer said. “Whether they are our family or someone else’s, these cemeteries need to be taken care of financially, physically, spiritually and ritually. And if we don’t do it, who will?” PJC
Adam Reinherz can be reached at areinherz@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.
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