Sign In Forgot Password
Home

Temple Beth El Blog

The Story of the Beit Olamim Cemetery Garden

03/08/2022 11:56:04 AM

Mar8

Kathy Mazur

It all began in March of 2020, at the beginning of the pandemic, when my husband Tim and I were in downtown Knoxville, Tennessee, ordering food to go from our favorite Syrian restaurant. We decided to take a shortcut back to our car, and there we stumbled upon a Prayer Garden. I stopped and sat down in this tiny, beautiful garden and said a prayer for our nation that we would soon discover a vaccine. I looked around at its beauty and turned to my husband and said, “I want to build a garden for the Madison Jewish community.” You see, this gift had been long on my mind, as I had just survived breast cancer and wanted to give back for my blessings of recovered health. I learned an important lesson during my year with surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation: that nature is a powerful healer. 

In my next step, I contacted my good friend Eve Siegel, who then referred me to Jim Stein, and together we began discussing possible locations for the garden.

From there I found two fantastic landscape architects, Steven Swenson and Samantha Roffe, who are both from the Bruce Company. Steven is an expert with hardscaping, and Samantha has great knowledge of plants and design. We spent many, many months creating different designs until we finally arrived at what you see in the Beit Olamim cemetery today.

There were aspects of the garden that were very important to me, such as beautiful natural granite seating, curved bluestone pathways, and plants and trees that would attract birds and butterflies. It was also clear that we should select as much native vegetation as possible. I love birds, and so at the center of this garden is an Autumn Brilliance Serviceberry tree that attracts a multitude of bird species. In the spring it will bloom with beautiful white flowers, in the summer we will see glossy green leaves with luscious berries, and it will be covered with brilliant orange and red leaves in the fall. We also have a Star Magnolia and a Royal Raindrops crabapple tree to highlight the spring. Plants, bushes, and dry riverbeds made of pond rock add color and texture throughout the seasons. Instead of mulch, we selected sedum sod beds to provide contrast and texture, attract butterflies, and showcase brilliant hues of yellow, red, and various greens. And finally, we included a stunning, handcrafted round arbor that is the window to the garden.

Tim and I hope this space brings peace and wholeness to the community.
 

April 30, 2025 2 Iyar 5785