The Tents of Baltimore: Ohelim in the Jewish Cemeteries

Tucked away in several cemeteries of Baltimore, Maryland, are memorial structures that quietly hold a piece of Jewish history. The small buildings cover graves of various rabbis and rebbitzens, as well as some non-clergy. Such a structure is called an ohel (plural, ohelim), meaning tent in Hebrew. An ohel is an enclosed structure built over an in-ground burial. The ohel is different from a mausoleum, a structure in which there is an above-ground interment. The majority of individuals whose ohelim are displayed in this book were born in Eastern Europe and passed away between the 1930s and 1950s, although the earliest died in 1892 and the most recent in 1963. A photo, location, description, dimensions, condition, notes from the plaques of ohelim, and historical notes are provided for each ohel. The cemeteries covered include: Rosedale, Bowley’s Lane, B’nai Israel, German Hill Road, and United Hebrew. This book preserves the memory of a part of Baltimore history, the ohelim and the names of those they honor. A list of ohelim by date of death and a bibliography complete this work.