Posts Tagged ‘Jewish’

At first glance this unusual marker might look like another Woodsmen of the World gravestone, with its rough hewn knotty log construction:

But, no. This is instead a symbol of what the lady, Lilla M. Benjamin, loved most in life- sitting in front of Wolf & Marks and talking to passersby, beckoning them to come inside their shop and browse. The carvers even included her footrest, and a spray of lilies arch across the headrest.

Lilla’s grave is part of a larger family coping in Dispersed of Judah cemetery:

The only two elaborate markers are for Lilla and Elias, both featuring the wood motif. For the sake of Lilla’s comfort I can only hope the wooden chair was symbolic licence and her own was more cozy!

Logs, when depicted as being transformed into something new, like this chair, symbolizes something lost (the deceased/a living tree) in one form, but changed into something new and worthy.

I was out on one my my dawn explorations when I came across this:

Which, honestly, I initially looked at because of the pinkish morning clouds, but when I looked closer I noticed the oddities:

I love the idea of simply defining oneself as ‘ARTIST,’ not to mention the artistic touch with the dates. I’ve never seen death displayed as a fraction before.

So I did some checking and discovered it’s a mother and her predeceased son. I was unable to find very much on him online, except that he may be the grantor of the Joseph Minsky Young Lawyer Award, given to young attorneys who focus on immigration law. It’s hard to say, except that the award was created just before he died, so the stars seem to align, but there’s not so much as a death notice for him anywhere that I can find.

His mother, however, sounds like she was one hell of a lady. From her obit:

Mrs. Neiman, An Internationally Known Painter, Was Born In The Vinnitsa Region Of Ukraine. She Lived And Worked In Kharkov, Odessa, Chernovtsky And Moscow And Was A Member Of The Union Of Artists Of The Ussr. She Participated In Larger Exhibitions Throughout Much Of Europe, Tokyo, Jerusalem And New York. Mrs. Neiman Moved To New Orleans In 1993. An Exhibit Of Her Work Was Hosted By The New Orleans Museum Of Art In January, 2002 And Most Recently By The Hanson Gallery.

I tried to find examples of her work, but there aren’t any online, though she still has several pieces in a gallery in Berlin- ironic for a Russian Jew.

Founded in 1858, this Jewish cemetery is the first one you come to when riding the streetcar out to the end of Canal Street to the cemeteries, but it’s easy to miss. There are no tombs, and most burials are low to the ground and in the more traditional American style- one body per plot.

Without any big marble structures, Chevra Thilim is easy to miss, especially since it’s dwarfed by a huge white mansion along side it- once a funeral home in it’s, now home of a ‘para-complex,’ where they give ghost tours and test your potential for ESP.

With the low-lying landscape, there’s one tomb that stands out, the Harry Offner lighthouse.

At 11 feet high and including much detail, it’s hard to miss. Mr. Offner was a president of the Lighthouse for the Blind, and chose to be buried under their symbol.