A Small Jewish Cemetery In Rural Northern Wisconsin

In 1892, the Ashland Hebrew Cemetery Association took title to the land that would become known as the B’nai Israel Cemetery. The Cemetery was cared for by Ashland’s B’nai Israel Congregation and, even after the shuttering of the synagogue in the mid-20th century, funds saved by the Temple Sisterhood were still paying the cemetery’s modest operating expenses into the beginning of the 21st century. In 2012, the last-surviving member of the Sisterhood who had assumed the management of the cemetery decided to take a well-deserved retirement from her duties. At that point the current Ashland and Bayfield Counties Jewish community reorganized the cemetery under the aegis of the B’nai Israel Cemetery Association and committed its management
to a volunteer board of directors.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We are grateful that the far-sighted vision of the Jews in our area who came before us provided that the caretaking of the cemetery would endure long after they had gone. It is now up to our generation to insure that the cemetery will thrive long after we are gone.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


As the only Jewish institution remaining in the Ashland/Bayfield area, B’nai Israel Cemetery has become a local center of Jewish living. We host an annual Memorial Day picnic, and with a newly planted perennial garden and tulip and daffodil beds, along with a welcoming bench, we now provide a place that celebrates the continued flourishing of Jewish life in our area. In doing so, we honor our forebears, as well as providing for ourselves and those who come after us.