Jewish Cemetery "Holy Sands"

According to Jewish religious regulations, cemeteries within the limits of a settlement were not allowed. So originally, the Jewish cemetery of Worms was laid out southwest of the city walls.

Rest in peace … the ‘Holy Sands’.

The ‘Holy Sands’, Europe’s Oldest Jewish Cemetery

There are no records revealing the ‘foundation’ of the Jewish cemetery. The oldest surviving gravestone is that of one Jacob Bahur of 1076, making the ‘Holy Sands’ the oldest existing Jewish cemetery of Europe. There are several other 11th-century gravestones, readily discernible by their simple, rectangular shape, the ruled lines within and the frames around the text field. The many stones from the 12th century look similar, but have no lines and frames.

The cemetery may have been established in the time when the first synagogue was built in 1034. However, the importance of the ‘Holy Sands’ not only lies in its old age, but also in the numerous Jewish scholars that are buried here. Since there are no more Christian cemeteries with upright gravestones from the Romanesque period, the Jewish cemetery is also unique in the general cultural history of cemeteries. Only a small number of grave slabs and sarcophagus tops have been kept in churches.

Situated close to the entrance, the gravestones of Meïr of Rothenburg (d 1293) and Alexander ben Solomon Wimpfen (d 1307) are among the most significant sepulchral monuments of the cemetery and are a place of pilgrimage for Jews from all over the world. Some other important gravestones can be found in and around the so-called Valley of the Rabbis, among others those of Rabbi Nathan ben Isaac (d 1333), Rabbi Jacob ben Moses haLevi, called MaHaRIL (d 1427), Rabbi Meïr ben Isaac (d 1511) and Elia Loanz, called Baal Shem (b 1636).

(source: German Wikipedia)

Crossing borders … Martin Buber’s View.

Martin Buber’s View

In the forecourt of the cemetery, there is a fountain for the ritual purification of the hands after a visit of the cemetery. Next to the wooden entrance gate, the kaddish or mourning prayer is set into the wall. A Worms characteristic is that the front sides of the gravestones are all turned southwards. Not far from the entrance there is the gravestone of Rabbi Meïr of Rothenburg (1220—1293), who is revered as a great scholar and martyr. From the Gothic period on, the gravestones show the typical features of the respective epochs.

In 1911, a new Jewish cemetery was established next to the city’s central (Christian) cemetery. Since then hardly any interments have taken place here. The Holy Sands survived the terrors of the Nazi era largely unscathed.

From the mounds overlooking the old cemetery, the visitor has a marvellous view of the ancient gravestones, ostensibly scattered without care across the cemetery, but also of the city wall and the Cathedral. All built in the Romanesque style, they form a great unified whole.