Veronica MacDonald Ditko

Hawthorne is home to old Jewish cemetery

A view of Ahavath Joseph Cemetery.

Some people in Hawthorne have a historical treasure in their backyards but don't know how it got there. Meet the people of Brockhuizen Lane, a steep road that climbs up a hill straddling the North Haledon border. Not too far up the road lie two ancient cemeteries, the Ahavath Joseph Cemetery and the Holland Cemetery.

The Ahavath Joseph cemetery is in perfect health, which is remarkable considering it is more than 100 years old. The cemetery was bought by a group of people originally from Slutsk, Lithuania (now Belarus), who moved to Paterson in the 1890s and formed a congregation called Ahavath Joseph on Godwin Street.

"It was customary that once people set up a congregation, they would get land for a cemetery," explains Ruth Brooks, Ahavath Joseph Cemetery chairwoman. "Back then, young children and adults passed away from diphtheria, pneumonia, measles, polio, etc. — things that we have inoculations for today.