Chabad of Lake Havasu City, a small rural town in Western Arizona, faced a challenge common to many remote Shluchim: When persuading families to opt for Jewish burial, it just wasn’t practical.

The closest Jewish cemetery was two-and-a-half hours away, in a different state.

And the costs of Jewish cemeteries are staggering. On average, for just the burial plot and opening and closing, families are paying in excess of $5,000 in the Phoenix and Las Vegas Jewish cemeteries.

Rabbi Mendel Super, who directs Chabad of Lake Havasu City together with his wife, Itta, found a solution: in a tiny rural town just over an hour away, a municipal cemetery sold plots for $650. Opening and closing added an additional $600.

Working with the cemetery management, Chabad of Lake Havasu City will soon consecrate the first Jewish cemetery in all of Western Arizona.

As policy requires all plots in the designated Jewish section to be paid for in advance, Chabad is raising the funds to purchase all 60 plots of a brand new section.

This will facilitate Jewish burials for residents of Western Arizona and beyond, by partnering with other regional Shluchim and the Arizona Meis Mitzvah Project.

“Just over this summer alone,” says Rabbi Super, “We have had five requests from Jews living in Bullhead City and Kingman to have a Jewish burial. None have the means to pay for it.”

Your donation of a burial plot will ensure that no Jew in Western Arizona is forgotten. Visit ChabadHavasu.org/cemetery to sponsor a plot.