When traveling, I make it a point to seek out places of Jewish interest, and this quiet corner of Scotland holds a remarkable piece of history. This is the Jewish Enclosure at the Glasgow Necropolis. Acquired by the Jewish community in 1832, this small, walled section actually predates the official opening of the main Necropolis and served as the city’s first Jewish communal burial ground.
It contains 57 burials that took place over a brief period from 1832 until 1855. Because Jewish religious law forbids the burial of more than one person in a single grave, the small plot of land reached its capacity very quickly. As a result, it has not been in use since the 1850s. The prominent stone column, designed by architect John Bryce and modeled after Absalom’s Pillar in Jerusalem, stands watch over the ornate wrought-iron Star of David at the entrance.
