Chesed Shel Emeth Cemetery

About

The Chesed Shel Emeth Society is the Jewish-Orthodox cemetery of St. Louis, MO with locations in Chesterfield, MO and University City, MO

Story

Chesed Shel Emeth was formed in 1888 by immigrants from Russia. Russian immigrants could find Orthodox congregations in St. Louis, but they found the rituals and tradition of the local synagogues unfamiliar. They formed, first, a chevra kadisha (a burial society) in order to bury their deceased with familiar rites, then they formed a congregation. Their original hopes were modest: a hearse, which they achieved in 1889, and an agreement with one of the Jewish cemeteries for a section of their own. In 1893 they acquired ground for themselves at Olive and Hanley, the site of the original Chesed Shel Emeth Cemetery. Their first synagogue was on O'Fallon Street, "lot number 17 in City Block 1676," according to the deed on 1889. The synagogue moved to Euclid and Page in 1919 and remained there until the early 1950s. Then, following the westward movement of the Jewish community, the congregation built a new synagogue at 700 North & South Road in University City. By 1958 they were adding another wing to the building. In the 1960s Chesed Shel Emeth Cemetery was beginning to run out of space. in 1967 the congregation purchased thirty acres in Chesterfield in west county,were St Louisians were already moving. Called the White Road cemetery, it has the potentiality for grow over the next (200) many years to hold the entire St. Louis Jewish population.

In recognizing the various denominations of Judaism, the Beth Shalom Cemetery was opened in 2011 and is a growing entity. Chesed Shel Emeth and Beth Shalom cemeteries are available to all segments of the St. Louis Jewish community.