Jewish Cemetery at Choa Chu Kang Singapore

This is my blog experience of my visit to the Jewish Cemetery in Choa Chu Kang on 17 November 2024. The visit was made possible via My Community Festival - My Last Journey. During this tour i learned a lot from Rabbi Nissim Zawdy (a young Rabbi from The Chesed-El Synagogue at Oxley Rise River Valley). During our visit Rabbi Nissim eloquently and patiently explained to us the story of the Jewish Community in Singapore, the Jewish Cemeteries that exist as well as finally the Jewish funeral rites and practices in Singapore. He also answered many curious questions that we may have about the Jewish customs and rites.

Disclaimer: If there is any mistakes in my interpretation, it is solely by me and not associated to Rabbi Nissim nor the volunteer guides of MyCommunity.

At the entrance of the Jewish Cemetery in Choa Chu Kang, i am greeted by a sign in Hebrew. Curious to understand what it was trying to say, i used AI to interpret it for me. 

The plaque with the Hebrew text at the entrance of the Jewish Cemetery in Choa Chu Kang

The plaque with Hebrew text is a prayer or blessing recited when visiting a cemetery after not having been there for 30 days, as indicated by the English text at the top. The Hebrew text consists of two parts:

1. The main blessing (first paragraph):

"Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the universe, who created you [humans] in judgment, and sustained and nourished you in judgment, and took your lives in judgment, and knows the exact number of you all in judgment, and who will in the future restore you to life and establish you in judgment. Blessed are You, Lord, who revives the dead."

This translation better reflects the Hebrew word "בדין" (b'din), which means "in judgment" rather than "with justice." The repetition of "in judgment" emphasizes the divine justice and deliberation in all aspects of life and death. It also better captures the formal and reverent nature of the blessing.

2. The biblical quote at the bottom (from Isaiah 26:19):

"Your dead shall live, their corpses shall rise; awake and sing for joy, you who dwell in the dust! For your dew is a radiant dew, and the earth shall give birth to those long dead."

Relocated Jewish tomb clusters 

After you pass through the gates, the immediate thing you will notice are the individual tombs with 6 name plaques on each of the tomb. This cluster in Block D and later parts of Block E i found out are actually relocated tombs from the former Jewish Cemetery at Dhoby Ghaut and Novena. In short, each tomb contain 6 remains. 

Block D and Block E (in the background) of the Jewish Cemetery Choa Chu Kang

Relocation of remains from the former Jewish Cemetery at Dhoby Ghaut to Choa Chu Kang
(source: National Archives, Singapore)

Relocated tombs from Dhoby Ghaut Jewish Cemetery

The Jewish Cemetery, Orchard Road (where Dhoby Ghaut MRT is currently is) was established in 1841. The last burial took place on 8 Dec 1903 when Sam and Christy Dimmenberg were interred there. In 1983, the land was repossessed for development. About 160 graves were affected were largely from the Sephardic Jews (Oriental Jews) who originated from Iraq and settled in India as well as eventually this region in the 1830s. 

The Jewish Cemetery located to the north of Moulmein Road near the junction of Thomson Road and Newton Road contained burials from 1904 to 1973. Sephardic and Ashkenazi burials are found here. Ashkenasi Jews were the Jews who came from Europe. In 1985, the cemetery site was cleared to make way for new Novena Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) station.

The only exception in the cluster of relocated tombs was for the philanthropists, Sir Manasseh Meyer who passed away at the age of 84 on 1 July 1930 at his house in Oxley Rise and was buried in Thomson Road Jewish Cemetery. He and his wife when they were relocated to Choa Chu Kang were allocated individual plots because of his contributions to the Jewish Community in Singapore (he built the Chesed El Synagogue in Oxley Rise). 

Tomb of Sir Manasseh Meyer and his wife relocated to Jewish Cemetery at Choa Chu Kang

I also learned from Rabbi Nissim that for some families who could afford it, they may have opted to send the remains of their ancestors back the land of Israel instead. Indeed i found from newspapers articles archives mentioning this choice (i will try to blog about this in the future). One other little gem i got to find out from this tour was some grave stones from the former Jewish Cemeteries in Dhoby Ghaut / Thomson was actually saved and place in one corner of the cemetery (behind the building). Within my line of sight, i counted about 10. 

What was unfortunate was the original Mausoleum of Sir Manasseh Meyer which was said to be designed by the famous Italian sculptor Cavelior Nolli (the person who designed the reliefs of the old Tanjong Pagar Railway were not conserved.  

Marble tombstones saved from past Jewish Cemetery

Other pioneers buried in the Jewish Cemetery in Choa Chu Kang

Given family sensitivities, we got to see the tomb of David Marshall and Jacob Ballas and did not stray away from Rabbi Nissim short tour on the personalities buried here. I found out there are roughly around 2500 Jews residing in Singapore. 

Tomb of David Mrshall, former Chief Minister of Singapore 

Jacob Ballas and his mother Grace Ballas 

I learned there is also special section for the Cohen's if they are descendants of Aaron (brother of Moses). Cohanim have many responsibilites including the first to be called to read the torah in the synagogue and in the case of a deceased person, must maintain ritual purity by avoiding contact with the dead. That explains a lot as i observed in the Jewish Cemetery in Penang, the Cohens and Levis are buried separately from the rest. 

Funeral Rites for the Jewish Community in Singapore

A person of the Jewish faith who passed away cannot be cremated. No embalming and autopsy is strictly forbidden. The other important thing to note is that Jewish funeral takes place as soon as possible after the deceased as passed on. The Chevra Kadisha is a Jewish organization of volunteers who prepare deceased Jews for burial according to Jewish tradition. The name translates to "holy society" in Hebrew. The Chevra Kadisha's responsibilities include:

• Taharah: A ritual bath and dressing the deceased in white garments called tachrichim. In Singapore, the remains are washed 3 times in a specific order, before being dressed in garments as mentioned earlier. The clothing used is the same for everywhere whether rich or poor. This is to represent that in death everyone is the same. Clothing is worn also to ensure that when in resurrection, the are clothed when the face God in judgement. 
• Shmirah: Watching over the deceased until burial 

Ensuring proper funeral rites are observed, The Chevra Kadisha's work is considered one of the most important Mitzvot (good deeds) one can do. The Chevra Kadisha's mission is to treat the deceased with respect and ensure that preparation is in accordance with Jewish tradition.

Some of the funeral rites i come to learn about was the importance of getting soil from Israel to placed on the closed eyelids of the deceased. Other things are the placement of the tomb (facing Israel) and the remains are placed horizontally. Once the person has passed on, the deceased face is covered and no longer seen by their family members. During the reflection period, no negative words can be mentioned about the deceased (even if the deceased is actually a bad person - one need to say words of comfort). 

There is also a timeline of mourning and examples that i could recall were:  

Aninut: The period between the death and the burial 

Shiva: The seven-day mourning period after the burial. 

Shloshim: The 30-day mourning period after the burial. Mourners return to work, but are still restricted in some ways. For example, they don't go to clubs to party. 

And finally 11 months and every anniversary. 

I like the quote by Rabbi Nissim which reads "Earth You are, and to Earth You will Return" [Genesis 3:19]. It is always a reminder for us we can't escape faith but to make good use of our time here. 

Rabbi Nissim Zawdy explaining to use about the Jewish Funeral rites

A clean smooth pebbles being placed on top or in front of some of the tombstones to symbolises remembrance of the deceased and that they are not forgotten. Stone also last forever and therefore makes more sense to be used instead of flowers. Another lesson i learn is they do visit to pray to the person but to pray to God and therefore in Judaism, the cemetery is a place of reflection- reflection of life and death. 

Smooth stones for family members who are visiting 

Another important thing i learn from my visit is how organised this cemetery and the burial information of the people buried here are clearly labelled. 

Burial registrar on the board in the building 

[resarch on-going - there will be articles on the Jewish Cemeteries of Dhoby Ghaut and Thomson ].

References 

Jewish Community. (website).Singapore Infopedia. National Library Board, Singapore 

Jewish Cemetery, Thomson Road.(website). National Archives, Singapore

Exhumation of Jewish graves at Orchard Road cemetery for re-interment at Choa Chu Kang.(website). National Archives, Singapore.

https://iajgscemetery.org/far-east-a-southeast-asia/singapore/singapore