Bet Olam Cemetery

Bet Olam Cemetery has its roots in a classic tale. In 1910 Park Synagogue was running out of space at its Fir Street Cemetery. They sent out a man by the name of Sam Newman to look for a new plot of land for expansion. He set out to find a new piece of property but was caught in a snow storm.

The Reindfleisch family allowed him to stay at their home to wait out the storm. Newman explained to Reindfleisch what he was doing and Reindfleisch arranged the sale of the land to the synagogue. Newman accepted the deal, despite questions from the board of directors they decided it was the right place for expansion. Area farmers found out and tried to block the creation of the new cemetery because they did not want a Jewish cemetery in their midst. But the law stated that once a cemetery is dedicated it can not be undedicated so the new cemetery quickly had its first burial. Mr. Reindfleisch became the first caretaker and his son followed.

Located at the corner of Richmond Avenue and Chagrin Boulevard, Bet Olam Cemetery has over 10,500 burials and serves 6 current and disbanded Cleveland congregations:

• Beth Am
• Liberty Aid Society
• Park Synagogue
• Taylor Road Synagogue
• Young Israel -Oer Chodesh
• Zemach Zedek

View a map of Bet Olam Cemetery

Excerpts above taken from “Cemeteries of Northeast Ohio” by Vicki Vigil