by Marilyn Silverstein
NJJN Bureau Chief/PMB

November 18, 2008

On a sun-drenched morning in late October, a multigenerational group of 30 Jews gathered in Trenton to rededicate the hallowed ground of Workers of Truth Cemetery on Cedar Lane.

For Allan Richman of West Windsor, the moment marked another milestone in his ongoing effort to restore the old cemetery, whose 200 gravesites were once littered with debris and choked by thickets of ivy and weeds.

Beginning in the fall of 2005 — ever since reading a story in New Jersey Jewish News about the neglected conditions at Workers of Truth — Richman has led a personal and communal effort to clean up the cemetery. For the past three summers, he has involved friends, former Trenton-area families, and fellow congregants at Beth El Synagogue in East Windsor in Mitzvah Day activities to renew the site.

“I think we’ve reached a point where the cemetery has been transformed into a proper-looking cemetery, and I thought it warranted a rededication,” Richman said in an interview before the ceremony.

Robert and Rosalyn Gross of Yardley, Pa., who first reached out to NJJN in 2005 in an effort to raise awareness about the derelict state of the cemetery, also welcomed the transformation.

“What a difference,” Roz Gross said as she arrived for the ceremony. “It is amazing. This is what I call a mitzva.”

“It’s just not the same place,” her husband agreed as he surveyed the clean and orderly rows of headstones. “It’s just a completely different cemetery.”

Also on hand for the ceremony were Rabbi Dov Halperin of Knesset HaSefer, the Educational Synagogue of Yardley, which oversees the maintenance of the cemetery, and Abram Barnett of Bensalem, Pa., Knesset HaSefer treasurer and a former president of the now defunct Poale Emet, Congregation Workers of Truth.

“I think it’s wonderful what Allan Richman did,” Barnett said. “He’s tireless. Now you can see the tombstones. You can walk back there.”

“It’s unbelievable,” added Halperin. “I’m impressed that people are ready to do such a thing. It’s a true kindness, because there’s no expectation of return. Being a part of people who do true kindness — it’s the ultimate.”

To be associated with such an effort is an honor, the rabbi told the gathering. “I came to inspire, and I’ve been inspired by such a place.”

‘Lifelong mitzva’

During the brief, sun-warmed ceremony, Richman reviewed the 80-year history of Poale Emet — once “the thriving heart of the Jewish community” of Trenton — and thanked everyone who participated in the cemetery’s transformation.

A high point of the rededication was the presentation of a certificate of merit to 12-year-old Benjamin Chevlin of Princeton Junction, who has committed himself to the cleanup of the cemetery as his bar mitzva project. A seventh-grade student at Abrams Hebrew Academy in Yardley, he will celebrate becoming bar mitzva at Beth El on Dec. 6.

Over the past months, Benjamin and his parents, Brian Chevlin and Jill Schwartz-Chevlin, and his sisters, Lindsay, 10, and Sabrina, six, have been to the cemetery on five or six occasions, cleaning up headstones, cutting down trees, and clearing away ivy.

“I kind of wanted to do this because I could imagine being the family of some of the people who are buried here,” Benjamin said as he gestured toward the old stones. “They were covered with all this ivy, and I wanted to clean it up so where they are is a clean place.”

Benjamin also helped create a meditation area in a cemetery clearing — a circle of slate and polished white stones anchored by stone benches and red-leafed flowering pear trees.

Princeton architect Eric Jaffe, a member of the Chevlins’ extended family, designed the area, said Jill Schwartz-Chevlin.

“It’s incredible to see the transition,” she said. “I’m proud that Ben has been able to be a part of this. It shows him what one person can do.”

“The project is incredible,” added Brian Chevlin. “It’s a lifelong mitzva, and we’re very happy we were able to be a part of it.”

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