Sha'arai Shomayim Cemetery, also known as the Reformed Temple Jewish Cemetery, is a historic

Jewish cemetery A Jewish cemetery ( ''beit almin'' or ''beit kvarot'') is a cemetery where Jews are buried in keeping with Halakha, Jewish tradition. Cemeteries are referred to in several different ways in Hebrew, including ''beit kevarot'' (house of s ...

located in

Mobile, Alabama Mobile ( , ) is a city and the county seat of Mobile County, Alabama, United States. The population was 187,041 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. After a successful vote to annex areas west of the city limits in July 2023, Mobil ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. It was established by Congregation Sha'arai Shomayim in 1876 after their previous cemetery, Jewish Rest in the adjacent Magnolia Cemetery, was filled to capacity.Sledge, John Sturdivant. ''Cities of Silence: A Guide to Mobile's Historic Cemeteries'', pp. 80–89. Tuscaloosa, Alabama: University of Alabama Press, 2002. The cemetery is situated on and is surrounded by a 19th-century

cast-iron Cast iron is a class of iron–carbon alloys with a carbon content of more than 2% and silicon content around 1–3%. Its usefulness derives from its relatively low melting temperature. The alloying elements determine the form in which its car ...

fence and

live oak Live oak or evergreen oak is any of a number of oaks in several different sections of the genus ''Quercus'' that share the characteristic of evergreen foliage. These oaks are generally not more closely related to each other than they are to o ...

trees. The entrance is through an ornamental arched gate inscribed with the congregation name in

Hebrew letters The Hebrew alphabet (, ), known variously by scholars as the Ktav Ashuri, Jewish script, square script and block script, is a unicameral abjad script used in the writing of the Hebrew language and other Jewish languages, most notably Yiddish ...

The congregation

Mobile's

Reform Jewish Reform Judaism, also known as Liberal Judaism or Progressive Judaism, is a major Jewish denomination that emphasizes the evolving nature of Judaism, the superiority of its ethical aspects to its ceremonial ones, and belief in a continuous rev ...

community had its beginnings in the 1820s. The ''Sha'arai Shomayim'' congregation was the first Jewish congregation in

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

and one of the oldest Reform congregations in the

. It was made up of German Jewish immigrants. It was granted a charter by the state on January 25, 1844, with 52 families under the name of ''Sha'arai Shomayim Umaskil el Dol'', or Gates of Heaven and Society of Friends of the Needy. They organized the first

synagogue A synagogue, also called a shul or a temple, is a place of worship for Jews and Samaritans. It is a place for prayer (the main sanctuary and sometimes smaller chapels) where Jews attend religious services or special ceremonies such as wed ...

in Alabama, the St. Emanuel Street Temple, dedicated on December 27, 1846. They went on to build three more synagogues, after outgrowing the others. They moved to the Springhill Avenue Temple on September 2, 1955.

History

The Sha'arai Shomayim congregation's first cemetery was a section in Magnolia Cemetery that was deeded to them by the city of Mobile on 22 June 1841.Sledge, John Sturdivant. ''Cities of Silence: A Guide to Mobile's Historic Cemeteries'', pp. 24–26. Tuscaloosa, Alabama: University of Alabama Press, 2002. It would later come to be referred to as "Jewish Rest." The Jewish Rest section was full after only a few decades and led to the establishment of Sha'arai Shomayim Cemetery to the south of Magnolia. The congregation purchased the land for the new cemetery from William and Caroline Leinkauf on March 17, 1876. They adopted a number of resolutions for governing the new cemetery and placed the lot prices at $50 per lot. The site was consecrated on December 3, 1876. The cemetery was laid out by Samuel Brown, the congregation's vice president. He had live oaks planted around the perimeter of the grounds, and in 1890 the ornamental cast-iron gate and fence was installed. The first burial was that of Israel Jones, on December 28, 1876. One of the most notable interments to ever take place in the cemetery was that of Esau Frohlichstein on May 14, 1914. He was one of 14 American soldiers killed in the U.S. siege of

Veracruz Veracruz, formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entit ...

during the

Mexican Revolution The Mexican Revolution () was an extended sequence of armed regional conflicts in Mexico from 20 November 1910 to 1 December 1920. It has been called "the defining event of modern Mexican history". It saw the destruction of the Federal Army, its ...

. Thousands of Mobilians took part in his burial service and his marker is inscribed with a letter that he wrote to his parents the night before the attack. In part it reads, "Don't be afraid if I get killed. For the old saying 'Rather die a hero than live a coward' will land at Vera Cruz in about four hours." The grave plots within the site are laid out in an east–west configuration with paved lanes running between them. A lawn-covered central avenue divides the cemetery and features a large cast-iron gazebo in the center. Many elaborately carved

headstone A gravestone or tombstone is a marker, usually stone, that is placed over a grave. A marker set at the head of the grave may be called a headstone. An especially old or elaborate stone slab may be called a funeral stele, stela, or slab. The u ...

s and

mausolea A mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the burial chamber of a deceased person or people. A mausoleum without the person's remains is called a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be considered a type of ...

fill the cemetery. The most elaborate markers represent the

Ark of the Covenant The Ark of the Covenant, also known as the Ark of the Testimony or the Ark of God, was a religious storage chest and relic held to be the most sacred object by the Israelites. Religious tradition describes it as a wooden storage chest decorat ...

with classical detailing, many examples are present within the grounds. Many other markers feature Hebrew inscriptions. The cemetery has a large number of mausolea, one of the most notable being the Eichold-Haas-Brown mausoleum. It was designed by architect George B. Rogers and features many

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

ern design motifs and the

Star of David The Star of David (, , ) is a symbol generally recognized as representing both Jewish identity and Judaism. Its shape is that of a hexagram: the compound of two equilateral triangles. A derivation of the Seal of Solomon was used for decora ...

Gallery

Image:Sha'arai Shomayim 04.JPG, The Eichold-Haas-Brown mausoleum. Image:Sha'arai Shomayim 15.JPG, The Leinkauf monument, one of the many markers representing the Ark of the Covenant. Image:Sha'arai Shomayim 02.JPG, The Lowenstein mausoleum, an example of

Egyptian Revival architecture Egyptian Revival is an architectural style that uses the motifs and imagery of ancient Egypt. It is attributed generally to the public awareness of ancient Egyptian monuments generated by Napoleon's French campaign in Egypt and Syria, invasion of ...

. Image:Sha'arai Shomayim 13.JPG, The Bernheimer monument.

References

{{Mobile, Alabama Cemeteries in Mobile, Alabama Jewish cemeteries in Alabama Jews and Judaism in Mobile, Alabama 1876 establishments in Alabama Cemeteries established in the 1870s