Cemeteries
Until the end of the 20th century, Jews from Owen Sound were buried in Toronto. For instance, Max and Sadie Rabovsky were buried at Mount Sinai Memorial Park and Bathurst Lawn Memorial respectively. Several members of the Gorbet family were also interred in Toronto. Families would make a pilgrimage to visit the graves of their loved ones, usually at least once a year. Things changed in 2006. At the request of the Beth Ezekiel synagogue, Owen Sound’s Greenwood Cemetery established a Jewish Interment Section. It is located at the northwest extension and consists of four rows of 29 plots, 116 gravesites altogether.
One innovation at the Jewish Interment Section is a simple, communal monument. The purpose of the monument is two-fold. It identifies the section as Jewish. It also represents the graves of all those Owen Sound Jews who are buried elsewhere. This gives family members a focus for remembering their loved ones during the High Holidays or yahrzheits. It is a way of bringing the memory of absent community members back to Owen Sound.
A "Proxy Marker"
Jeff Elie discusses the importance of the new memorial monument honouring past residents and family members buried elsewhere in the province.
Interview with Jeff Elie, 12 June 2007, Sharon Gubbay Helfer. OJA, Oral History #313
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