The custom of burial dates back to the Bible. According to the Book of Genesis, when Sarah died, Abraham established burial in the ground as the proper final resting place for the body of a deceased Jew. It fulfills the Jewish sense of completion - we are formed from the dust of the earth and to the dust of the earth we are returned.

Listen to Rabbi Walter's sermon about cemeteries and Jewish tradition.

Located at 8341 Bissonnet, Emanu El Memorial Park was established in 1944 shortly after the formation of the congregation. In the cemetery's original platting, an oval was designated in the center for a chapel and members of the congregation planted trees around the perimeter as a first step toward setting this land apart. A generous gift from Anne & Morris Kagan, Edna & Israel Rudy in 1980 set the process in motion to build the Kagan-Rudy Chapel, designed by Clovis Heimsath.

Emanu El Memorial Park is open from 8 to 6 in the summer and 9 to 5 in the winter, Sunday through Friday. It is closed on Shabbat and on Jewish Holidays and certain secular holidays.

For information, please contact Jennifer LaCour at the Temple, 713-529-5771, ext. 213 or jenniferl@emanuelhouston.org.

(See a map to this location)

Kagan-Rudy Chapel at the Emanu El Memorial Park