Allan Richman stands amid the ivy-cluttered grave beds at Workers of Truth Cemetery in Trenton. Photo by Marilyn Silverstein
January 08, 2008
Allan Richman of West Windsor has mounted a new initiative to clean up Workers of Truth Cemetery on Cedar Lane in Trenton.
Richman, who has embraced the cemetery cleanup as a kind of personal crusade, has begun a campaign to raise $5,000 to rid the cemetery of the ivy that has spread unchecked over the cemetery’s passageways and graves.
“The ivy just takes hold of everything from the time spring arrives,” Richman said as he stood amid the old stones. All around him, thickets of ivy choked the pathways, climbed the stones, and ran wild over the grave beds.
“The ivy gets out of control, and really the only way to tackle this would be in a professional manner,” he said. “So this is something we’d like to see started as soon as the warm weather returns.”
The ivy initiative is just the latest project in Richman’s campaign to renovate the cemetery, which fell into neglect as the membership of Trenton’s Congregation Workers of Truth, established in 1919, dwindled over the years.
He has been tending to the cemetery for the past two years, arranging for the repair of the fence and the removal of wild trees and other debris. Last June, he organized a Mitzva Day cleanup with fellow congregants from Beth El Synagogue in East Windsor.
“I painted that myself,” he said, pointing to the mausoleum that sits prominently at the edge of the cemetery property. “Those steel doors were total rust. I spent I don’t know how many days coming down here and painting it.
“We’ve come very, very far with this,” he said. “There’s no doubt about it: If we get rid of the ivy, this cemetery will be in very nice shape.”
Richman said he feels a very personal connection to the cemetery. His grandparents Samuel and Rose Paley are buried there, as is a cherished uncle, Irving Paley, the former treasurer of the old Congregation Workers of Truth — who himself was once in charge of overseeing the upkeep of the cemetery.
“It’s become a mission,” Richman said. “I’m very intent on seeing this cemetery put into good shape. I think it’s our duty to honor those who have come before us.
“It gives me a good feeling to know that I care,” he added. “It’s my connection to the cemetery and to my grandparents and my uncle. So perhaps I’m carrying on my uncle’s work.”
In his campaign to get rid of the ivy, Richman has raised about half the needed funds by networking with others whose family members are buried at Workers of Truth. He has also reached out for the support of Knesset HaSefer, the Educational Synagogue of Yardley, Pa., where Dr. Abram Barnett of Bensalem, who was once president of Workers of Truth, now serves as treasurer. And Richman said he hopes to enlist the support of the region’s rabbis and the wider community.
“What I really would suggest for people associated with these cemeteries that are neglected is to take an interest,” he said. “Do something. Get involved.”
For information about Richman’s cemetery campaign, call him at 609-448-4133.