Jewish Burial Guide
Greater Boston

The area 37 cemeteries · 24 towns · numbers match the listings

How to read the listings

Each cemetery carries one of four labels, the same words used on everjewish.com. They describe how much has been confirmed — never quality, and never a ranking. Verification cannot change what a page says about a cemetery; it only adds the cemetery's own confirmed details.

Cemeteries by town nearest to Boston first

East Boston, MA 2 mi from Boston · 1 cemetery

Boston, MA 3 mi from Boston · 1 cemetery

Everett, MA 3 mi from Boston · 6 cemeteries

Malden, MA 5 mi from Boston · 3 cemeteries

Medford, MA 5 mi from Boston · 1 cemetery

Melrose, MA 7 mi from Boston · 3 cemeteries

West Roxbury, MA 8 mi from Boston · 4 cemeteries

Lynn, MA 9 mi from Boston · 2 cemeteries

Wakefield, MA 10 mi from Boston · 1 cemetery

Needham, MA 10 mi from Boston · 1 cemetery

Woburn, MA 10 mi from Boston · 1 cemetery

Wayland, MA 15 mi from Boston · 1 cemetery

Danvers, MA 16 mi from Boston · 1 cemetery

Natick, MA 16 mi from Boston · 1 cemetery

Sharon, MA 18 mi from Boston · 1 cemetery

Framingham, MA 20 mi from Boston · 1 cemetery

Lowell, MA 23 mi from Boston · 1 cemetery

Lawrence, MA 24 mi from Boston · 1 cemetery

Nashua, NH 35 mi from Boston · 1 cemetery

Plymouth, MA 38 mi from Boston · 1 cemetery

Worcester, MA 42 mi from Boston · 1 cemetery

Auburn, MA 42 mi from Boston · 1 cemetery

Manchester, NH 47 mi from Boston · 1 cemetery

Portsmouth, NH 50 mi from Boston · 1 cemetery

Jewish funeral homes 7 in the area, nearest first

The first call. Each home's page on EverJewish records what is documented about its Jewish practice — tahara and chevra kadisha, shomer, tachrichim and kosher caskets, Shabbat and Yom Tov — and what remains an open question to ask.

Six questions for the week itself

Short enough to ask on the phone; the funeral home will ask most of them for you.

Planning ahead for the calm year, not the hard week

Most people first look at a cemetery in the worst week of their lives. A few questions asked calmly, years early, spare a family the hardest decisions at the hardest time.

Where. Is there a family plot, a synagogue cemetery that comes with membership, or a community cemetery selling to the public? Availability changes; a cemetery that was open a decade ago may be pre-sold only today.

Who may be buried there. Membership rules, interfaith policy, and section restrictions are the questions families most often discover too late. They are also the ones cemetery offices answer readily when asked in advance.

What the purchase actually conveys. A deed or a right of interment; whether it can be transferred, sold back, or passed to children; and what the cemetery does if the family moves away.

Costs, in writing. A plot, the opening and closing, perpetual care, the monument and its setting fee are usually separate lines. Ask for them together, on paper, from the cemetery and from the funeral home; ask whether the price is fixed once paid.

Perpetual care. Who maintains the grounds when the society that founded the cemetery is gone, and whether a fund exists for it. Small cemeteries deserve this question most.

The funeral home's Jewish practice. Tahara and a chevra kadisha, a shomer overnight, tachrichim and a kosher casket, what happens on Shabbat or Yom Tov, transport to Israel if that is the wish.

Write it down and tell someone. The cemetery, the deed or contract, the funeral home, the rabbi, and who to call first. Give a copy to the person who will actually make the calls.

Words you will hear