The cemetery prior to the

first community cleanup

Organizers launch Phase 2 of the cleanup of the historic cemetery.

Jackie Headapohl
I Managing Editor

second cleanup day for the
historic B'nai David Cemetery
— the Jewish cemetery on Van
Dyke between Harper and McNichols in
Detroit — is scheduled for Sept. 14 at
10 a.m., and organizers are hoping the
community will respond the way it did
at the first cleanup day in April, when
more than 150 people came out to cut
the grass, trim trees, pick up trash and

A

clean the tops of graves.
The abandoned cemetery had been
overgrown by weeds. Garbage littered
the ground, and many of the headstones
had fallen over. Goldman's daughter Eva
spurred the idea for the cemetery clean-
up during an annual visit to the grave
of her great-great-grandmother, Esther
Malka Shibovich, who died of the flu in
1918 and was buried at B'nai David.
"The diversity of people who came
was amazing?' said organizer David
Goldman of Farmington Hills, Eva's dad.

"We had former B'nai David members,
young people from local shuls and even
residents of the area who had no con-
nection to the Jewish community?'
Goldman said some elderly people
came and were overcome with emotion
to come back and see the cemetery.
As part of the cleanup effort, Ben
Falik of Repair the World, in partnership
with recycling organization De-Tread,
arranged to have 800 old tires picked
up and removed from the cemetery's
perimeter.

"The surrounding area of the cem-
etery is a notorious dumping site Falik
said. "We had micro-grant funding from
the Jewish Fund to do it and were able to
help beautify the cemetery. All those old
tires were recycled into sandals?'
Goldman said he is hoping for another
day like the last. "Although a lot was
accomplished — a $4,000 donation
means the grass will already be mowed
— there is still a long way to go," he
said. "Sept. 14 we will be focusing on

B'nai David on page 22

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Students from Bloomfield Hills High volunteered in April to help clean up the
cemetery.

20 September 11 • 2014

People from the neighborhood joined members of the Jewish community in cleaning up
the cemetery.

