Coming Street Cemetery/ KKBE

On Saturday evening our class took a trip to the cemetery associated with the Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim synagogue which is located on Hassle Street. We met at the Coming Street Cemetery which was established in 1762. We met with tour guides Anita Moise Rosenberg and Randi Serrins, and were given a tour of the cemetery. 

Above are the two tour guides, Anita Moise Rosenberg and Randi Serrins.

Above are two Obelisk tombs in the cemetery.

Above are three Die-in-Socket headstones in the cemetery. 

This Coming Street Cemetery is different from most of the others we have visited like the Protestant and Catholic churches, whereas the cemetery is not located near the actual place of worship. The reasoning for this is that the members of the Jewish faith believe that life and death should not mingle. They think that death is seen as unholy in Judaism, therefore separating life and death into the synagogue and the cemetery. 

Above is a Die-in-Socket grave that is open and ready for burial.

Above is an aerial view of a Ledger headstone.

While there, we learned that the Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim synagogue is the “oldest surviving Jewish cemetery in the South.” We also learned a lot about the graves and the people buried there. Our tour guides, Anita Moise Rosenberg and Randi Serrins, informed us that every person buried there is buried 6 feet under the ground. There are around 800 people buried there including 12 Revolutionary War soldiers, 8 soldiers of the War of 1812, 2 soldiers from the Seminole Wars in Florida, 23 Civil War participants, 6 rabbis of the congregation, and 20 past presidents of the congregation.

Typically, families are buried together all in one grave, making great use of the cemeteries’ space. Often times, you will see rocks placed on top of the headstones. Anita Mouse Rosenberg informed us that “the symbolic reasoning for this is the belief that the rocks help to bury and keep the negativity and aura of death out of the world and only in the grave.”

Above is a water fountain which is located right inside the front gate entrance to the cemetery. The purpose of the water fountain is to wash your hands before and after you leave to keep everything in the cemetery in, and everything outside the cemetery out. 

Overall, it was very interesting getting to see the differences between typical graveyards and a Jewish graveyard.