Jessie Salmon, 91, laid to rest after Rabbi Menachem Junik of the Beis Gavriel Lubavitch Federation Synagogue in Hendon was put in touch with her Folkestone care home
June 1, 2023 12:04
A 91-year-old Holocaust survivor has received a Jewish burial thanks to the efforts of a north-west London rabbi.
The Folkestone care home in which Jessie Salmon was a resident had requested via the Association of Jewish Refugees that a rabbi speak to her.
Rabbi Menachem Junik of the Beis Gavriel Lubavitch Federation Synagogue in Hendon was put in touch with the home to arrange a visit to Jessie, who had no surviving family, most of her relatives having been murdered at Auschwitz.
“When I got the call from the care home, they wanted me to come the following week,” the rabbi explained. “But I heard the urgency in her request and asked to meet her over Zoom the following day.”
He recalled that Jessie didn’t say a lot but was “connecting with her eyes, saying: “I told her how much the community cares about her. I said the Shema prayer with her and promised to visit. I got a sense that she felt at peace with herself afterwards.”
Jessie passed away 12 hours later and Rabbi Junik was informed by the care home that she had written a will requesting to be buried at the local district cemetery. Rabbi Junik vowed to organise a Jewish burial: “I felt I had to go all out to give her the resting place she needed.”
The rabbi — who is also Jewish Care’s spiritual and pastoral lead — shared Jessie’s story with members of his congregation on Shabbat.
Galvanised into action, 15 Beis Gavriel members accompanied Rabbi Junik to Folkestone in advance of the funeral, scheduled to take place hours before Shavuot.
They consecrated the burial plot, placing soil from Israel inside the grave and gaining permission from the pallbearers to conduct the funeral themselves. Following the ceremony, the plot was cordoned off with string to designate it as separate from the rest of the cemetery.
Jessie in her younger days (Photo: Handout)
