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A community reference · preview · October 2026

Jewish Burial Guide
Lehigh Valley & Reading

Every documented Jewish cemetery within about 35 miles of Allentown & Reading, town by town, with what each has confirmed — the Jewish funeral homes that serve the area — and what to do in the first hours.
9cemeteries
6towns
0funeral homes
PREVIEW EDITION — this guide has not yet been printed or distributed. The print date and final edition will be confirmed when the community partnership is signed; the listings themselves are live at everjewish.com.

A starting point for a hard week, and a better one for a calm year. It does not rank or recommend. It says what is documented about each cemetery, what its office has confirmed directly, and what a family should still ask.

The live guide, kept current.
Scan to open it on your phone — every cemetery in this guide has its own code beside its listing.
EverJewish
An independent reference of Jewish cemeteries and funeral homes · everjewish.com

If you are holding this today

In the first hours there are two decisions that must be made today and many that can wait. The order below is the order that spares a family the most.

Call the Jewish funeral home first — not the cemetery.

The funeral home brings the deceased into their care, contacts the cemetery and the rabbi, arranges the chevra kadisha and a shomer, and knows what every office in this guide needs. If a hospital or hospice asks which funeral home, name a Jewish one; if the death was at home, the funeral home tells you whom to call.

Call your rabbi, or ask the funeral home to.

The rabbi guides the family through the day, leads the service, and answers the questions about custom and law that come up in the hours ahead. If the family has no rabbi, the funeral home and the Federation's chaplaincy can find one.

Decide where.

If there is a family plot or a synagogue cemetery, say so; the funeral home confirms the space is available. If not, the cemeteries in this guide marked as selling to the public or confirmed by their office are the place to start, and the funeral home will call the offices for you. Take the time the family needs to choose well; the funeral home and the rabbi will tell you what timing is possible.

Decide when.

Jewish tradition favors burial soon after death, and funerals are not held on Shabbat or festivals. Within that, the funeral home proposes a time once the cemetery and rabbi are confirmed, and the family's needs — people travelling, a rabbi's availability — shape it. Your rabbi will guide you on what is right for your family.

Let the rest wait.

The monument, the wording, the meal of consolation menu, the thank-you notes, the estate — none of it belongs to today. Ask one relative or friend to hold the list of what can wait, and to keep it away from the mourners.

Decide today
Which Jewish funeral home
Which cemetery, and that a space is confirmed
Who the rabbi is
The day and hour, once the cemetery confirms
Bring, or have at hand
The full Hebrew name of the deceased and of their parents, if known
Any deed, contract or letter about an existing plot
The name of the synagogue, if any
A photo ID for the person making arrangements
The names and phone numbers of the immediate family
Jewish tradition generally avoids autopsy and embalming. If a hospital raises either, ask your rabbi before deciding — hospitals accommodate the question when it is asked promptly, and a Jewish funeral home will know what to do.

The area 9 cemeteries · 6 towns · numbers match the listings

Map of the Jewish cemeteries and funeral homes in Lehigh Valley & Reading
Verified by the cemeteryConfirmed by the cemeteryDetailed listingBasic listingJewish funeral home

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.

✓ Verified by the cemetery — identity verified; the cemetery keeps its own page current.
Confirmed by the cemetery — its office confirmed availability, contact and hours with EverJewish, free.
Detailed listing — compiled by EverJewish from the cemetery's own website.
Basic listing — location and phone on record; details not yet confirmed.
As of this edition, 9 of the 9 cemeteries in the area have not yet confirmed whether plots are available. Their offices can confirm details with EverJewish at no cost, and the next edition will show it. Families: always call the office before deciding.
Allentown, PA · 1 · 14 mi
Whitehall, PA · 2 · 14 mi
Wyomissing, PA · 3 · 18 mi
Bethlehem, PA · 4, 5 · 20 mi
Shillington, PA · 6, 7 · 20 mi
Easton, PA · 8, 9 · 28 mi

Cemeteries by town nearest to Allentown & Reading first

Allentown, PA 14 mi from Allentown & Reading · 1 cemetery

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1Keneseth Israel Cemetery
Detailed listing
2227 W Chew St., Allentown, PA 18104  ·  (610) 435-9074  ·  cemeteryassn@kilv.org
Availability not yet confirmed — call the office before deciding.

Whitehall, PA 14 mi from Allentown & Reading · 1 cemetery

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2Beth El Memorial Park
Basic listing — details not yet confirmed
Mechanicsville Rd (across from St. Stephen's Church), Whitehall, PA 18052  ·  (610) 435-3521  ·  Standalone Jewish cemetery  ·  Congregational  ·  Temple Beth El (Allentown)
Availability not yet confirmed — call the office before deciding.

Wyomissing, PA 18 mi from Allentown & Reading · 1 cemetery

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3Kesher Zion Cemetery
Detailed listing
555 Warwick Drive  ·  (610) 374-1763  ·  kesherzionoffice@gmail.com
Availability not yet confirmed — call the office before deciding.

Bethlehem, PA 20 mi from Allentown & Reading · 2 cemeteries

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4Bethlehem Jewish Community Cemetery
Basic listing — details not yet confirmed
254 E Church St, Bethlehem, PA 18018 (Nisky Hill Cemetery)  ·  Jewish section within a larger cemetery
Availability not yet confirmed — call the office before deciding.
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5Brith Sholom Cemetery
Basic listing — details not yet confirmed
1190 W. Macada Road, Bethlehem, PA 18017-3029  ·  (610) 866-8009  ·  info@brithsholom.net
Availability not yet confirmed — call the office before deciding.

Shillington, PA 20 mi from Allentown & Reading · 2 cemeteries

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6Mount Sinai Cemetery
Basic listing — details not yet confirmed
Shillington, PA
Availability not yet confirmed — call the office before deciding.
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7Shomrei Habrith Cemetery
Basic listing — details not yet confirmed
1051 Philadelphia Avenue  ·  (610) 921-0881
Availability not yet confirmed — call the office before deciding.

Easton, PA 28 mi from Allentown & Reading · 2 cemeteries

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8Easton Cemetery - Jewish Section J
Detailed listing
401 North 7th Street, Easton, PA 18042  ·  (610) 252-1741  ·  office@thehistoriceastoncemetery.org  ·  Jewish section within a larger cemetery
Availability not yet confirmed — call the office before deciding.
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9B'nai Abraham Synagogue Cemetery
Basic listing — details not yet confirmed
2031 Arndt Road  ·  Standalone Jewish cemetery  ·  Congregational  ·  B'nai Abraham Synagogue
Availability not yet confirmed — call the office before deciding.

After the burial the year that follows, and where the community is

The weeks after a funeral are when a family most needs the community and least knows where it is. The moments below come in order; the synagogue, the funeral home and the rabbi can name the community's chevra kadisha, bereavement groups and shiva help for each of them.

The funeral
The chevra kadisha, the shomer, the levaya. The funeral home carries the arrangements; the family's task is only to be present.
Shiva
The community comes to the house: meals, prayers so Kaddish can be said, company in the evenings. Mourners do not host; someone else arranges the food and the door. How long and how shiva is kept is the family's and the rabbi's to decide.
The first Shabbat
Mourners return to synagogue for the first time; many congregations welcome them in at the start of the Friday evening service. A synagogue told in advance will be ready.
Sheloshim — thirty days
The formal mourning eases; the visits stop; this is when the quiet begins and when a bereavement group or a chaplain is worth a call.
The year
Kaddish in the months that follow; the monument set and unveiled; the first holidays without them. Bereavement groups meet monthly for exactly this stretch.
The yahrzeit, every year
A candle at home the evening before, Kaddish at services, a visit to the grave. Scan the cemetery's code in this guide for the office's visiting hours.

Six questions for the week itself

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

Is a plot available now, and where in the grounds?Ask to hear the section named; ask whether a spouse can be buried alongside later.
Who may be buried here?Members only, any Jew, a non-Jewish spouse — and whether the rabbi's ruling on Jewish status is required.
What is the total, in writing?Plot, opening and closing, perpetual care, and any Sunday or winter charges, on one page.
What does the funeral home charge, in writing?The itemised statement they are required to give — tahara, shomer, tachrichim, the casket, transport.
Who is the chevra kadisha, and is a shomer arranged?The funeral home should answer at once; if it cannot, the rabbi can.
What are the cemetery's rules for the monument?Size, material, Hebrew text, and when it may be set — a question for later, but the answer decides a purchase now.

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

Chevra kadishaThe burial society — volunteers who prepare the body for burial with tahara and stay with it until the funeral. Every community has one; the funeral home knows how to reach it.
TaharaThe washing and preparation of the body by the chevra kadisha, done with prayers and in privacy. It is a kindness the deceased cannot repay, which is why it is considered among the highest.
Shomer / shemiraThe person who stays with the deceased, reading psalms, from death until burial — so that the body is never left alone.
TachrichimPlain white linen shrouds, the same for everyone. A Jewish funeral home supplies them.
AronThe casket — plain wood, without metal, so that it returns to the earth. Sometimes called a kosher casket.
LevayaThe funeral, literally 'accompanying' — the service and the walk to the grave. Mourners and friends help fill the grave; it is the last kindness.
KriahThe tearing of a garment or a ribbon by the mourners before the funeral, a visible sign of loss.
HespedThe eulogy — words about the person, spoken at the funeral by the rabbi and often by family.
KaddishThe mourners' prayer, said at services in the months after a death and each year on the yahrzeit. How long it is said, and in what setting, varies between communities and traditions; it is usually said with others present, which is one reason the community matters.
ShivaThe days of mourning after the burial — traditionally seven — when mourners stay home and the community comes to them: with meals, with prayers, with company. How shiva is observed, and how Shabbat and festivals affect it, varies by community and family; the rabbi will guide you.
SheloshimThe thirty days after burial — a lighter period of mourning after shiva, when mourners return to daily life but, in many traditions, not yet to celebrations.
YahrzeitThe anniversary of the death on the Hebrew calendar, marked each year — commonly with Kaddish, a memorial candle, and a visit to the grave.
Matzevah / unveilingThe gravestone, and the short ceremony when it is set — commonly within the first year; customs on timing vary. Cemetery rules govern size, material and setting; ask before ordering.
KeverThe grave. Visiting is customary before Rosh Hashanah, on the yahrzeit, and at the unveiling; the small stone left on the monument says someone came.
Jewish Burial Guide · Lehigh Valley & Reading · back cover

About this guide

EverJewish is an independent reference of Jewish cemeteries and funeral homes across the United States. Listings are compiled from public sources and from what cemetery offices confirm directly; each entry says which. Nothing here is ranked, recommended, or paid for. Corrections are always free.

Questions of Jewish law and custom belong with your rabbi. Availability, eligibility and costs belong in writing from the cemetery and the funeral home.

Preview · October 2026 · not yet printed or distributed; print date and final edition to be confirmed · Compiled by EverJewish · generated 2026-10-13.
This guide may be copied and distributed in full, unaltered, for community use. To correct a listing or reach EverJewish, scan the code: everjewish.com/contact.