Title: Raleigh Hebrew Cemetery
Location of Proejct: Raleigh, NC
Project Completion Date: November 18th, 2020
Firm Name:

Short Description: Located in Northeast Raleigh, the new synagogue at the Raleigh Hebrew Cemetery honors the city’s Jewish community and embraces the ritual journey of returning to the earth after death. The synagogue is embedded into the earth and mainly accessed via a ramped pathway beginning above ground, slowly descending into the earth and serves to mentally prepare visitors for the rituals of death. Sunken gardens and varying skylight conditions allow mourners to experience being beneath the earth with their loved ones during their journey after life.

Architect's Statement: The Raleigh Hebrew Cemetery sits between the Historic Oakwood Cemetery and St. Augustine’s University, across North State Street. Just outside of downtown Raleigh, the site itself is rather small and shielded in an enclosure of large trees. From its main entrance along the north east section of N. State Street, the site slopes downwards to its south west corner. The purpose of this intervention is to facilitate the traditional rituals of the Jewish faith regarding death and the deceased.

In brief, the Jewish rituals surrounding death focus on the principles of honoring the deceased and assisting their return to the earth from where they came, notably utilizing plain pine caskets that decompose quicker. Usually funerary services begin within two days of someone’s passing and the treatment of their body is of utmost importance. Rituals begin with the Taharah, a cleansing of the body where community members prepare the deceased for their journey and the soul begins to leave the body. After cleansing, the deceased moves into the Shemirah, a time before the ceremony when they must be accompanied and guarded by family members and volunteers from the community. Ceremonies are typically short where mourners gather as the eulogy and psalms are read. During the burial process mourners are encouraged to take part in placing dirt over the casket as a final goodbye. Finally, the mourners cleanse their hands and are now able to console family and friends, which they were not able to do before as the rituals were focused on the deceased's journey.

The design follows the principles of honoring the deceased and of returning to the earth. With a ramped entry that slowly brings mourners into the site while mentally preparing and allowing them to focus on the deceased. Rammed earth walls and various skylights throughout the design act to enhance the notion of being beneath the earth with loved ones.

Circulation through the site for the deceased follows these rituals and entry for the deceased is located at the southern edge of the site where it meets N. State Street. They are promptly brought into the Taharah Room for the ritual of cleansing where east/west skylights fill the space with natural light throughout the day. The deceased will spend their time in the Shemirah Room next. Due to this ritual’s tendency to be an overnight experience, an east-facing skylight gives those guarding a sense of time as the natural light fades at dusk and grows at dawn. In the Ceremony Room the deceased is placed centrally, underneath a large south-facing skylight that bathes the deceased in natural light before continuing to the burial.

As a reaction to the site’s small size, the design includes The Archive Space that is meant to extend the usability and lifespan of the Raleigh Hebrew Cemetery. The idea of The Archive Space introduces a system similar to green burial sites, where the deceased are allowed to fully decompose and the individual gravesites are reused after that process. In Jewish tradition it is necessary for the deceased’s body to fully return to the earth in the same way so that the soul can complete its journey after death. In this design after the deceased has been allowed to decompose completely their headstone is relocated inside The Archives while the gravesite is able to be reused for future generations. Therefore, The Archive Space becomes an extension of the existing cemetery grounds and a record of the Jewish community of Raleigh.