Cemetery Association

The Keneseth Israel Cemetery Association is a non-profit corporation that exists for the benefit of the Temple membership and the broader Jewish community. The IRS has determined that the Association is exempt from federal income tax under Section 501 (c) (13).

Burial Rights are available for purchase by Jews, whether or not they are Keneseth Israel members. Temple membership includes the benefit of the services of the Keneseth Israel clergy and of the Temple’s facilities.

While this is a Jewish cemetery adhering to the traditions of Reform Judaism, a non-Jewish spouse, family member or partner may be buried in a family plot.

History and Utilization

The Association and the physical cemetery were founded in 1927 with the purchase of five and a half acres of land in South Whitehall Township. Approximately one-half of that land is now developed for burials with the remaining land available for future needs. There are about 2,100 individual grave sites in the half of the cemetery that has been developed.

As of 2025 over 1,700 have been purchased and half of those have been used. The earliest birth year among people buried is 1855. The Association accepts cremated remains for burial and provides appropriately sized graves, if a family chooses. (Only ground-level monuments may be used on these graves.)

There are at least 183 men and women veterans in the cemetery: one from the Spanish American War, 23 from World War I, 112 from World War II, 22 from Korea, nine from Viet Nam, and more where the war period isn’t known. There are a number of people who served in more than one war.

If a family member served in the armed forces during wartime and that isn’t indicated in the List of Burial Sites, please let us know the appropriate war. This is of particular importance so that a new US flag can be placed on the grave each year prior to Memorial Day.

Prices, Effective July 1, 2025

People who are Members at the time of purchasing Burial Rights will be entitled to the then available Member rates. Member is defined in the Bylaws of Congregation Keneseth Israel.

Category

Single Grave

Two Graves

Four Graves

Cremains Plot

Member of KI

$1200

$2200

$4400

$400

Non-Member

$1800

$3300

$6600

$600

Payments may be made by using Zelle with the Recipient Name “Keneseth Israel Cemetery” and the email CemeteryAssn@KILV.org

Find a Burial Site

Occasionally people have asked to be able to locate a burial or to see a plot plan of the cemetery. You can click the List of Burial Sites to see a list of burials and their locations. To see the layout of the cemetery and plot owners (current as of June 2025), there are two separate pdf files:

If you discover an error in these files, please fill out the form at the bottom of the page with the proper information.

There is a Web site operated by Ancestry.com that might be of interest to anyone searching for information relating to the cemetery. It has photos of most of the grave markers in the cemetery: https://www.findagrave.com/cemetery/45223/keneseth-israel-cemetery .

Cemetery Information & Documents

Cemetery Management

The Association’s Board of Directors

Shelley Drozd

Jonathan Epstein, President

Ken Kirshner, Treasurer

Raymond Livesay

Dave Louick

Lynda Pollack, KI Synagogue Co-President

Charlie Richter

Michele Salomon, Secretary

Carah Tenzer

Rabbi Shoshanah Tornberg

Janet Ulman

Doug Zakin - Vice-President

Len Glazier, Treasurer Emeritus

In a mutual exchange of provisions in the Bylaws of the Association and the Temple the president of the Association, or the Directors’ appointee, is an ex-officio, voting member of the Temple’s Board of Trustees and the Temple’s Board president is an ex-officio, voting member of the Association’s Board of Directors. The rabbi of the Temple advises the Association on religious matters related to the Cemetery and is an ex-officio, non-voting member of the Association’s Board.

Operation and Expenses

The Keneseth Israel Cemetery Association is self-supporting and operates with a volunteer board. No money from the Temple is used in the operation of the cemetery. The expenses of the cemetery are paid primarily from the sale of burial rights, the price for which includes perpetual care of the grounds, and as needed from the earnings of the Association’s investments.