Jews’ Gate Cemetery

Ref: HLMP2/031

Jew’s Gate Cemetery, also known as the Windmill Hill Cemetery, was the burial site of a number of Gibraltar’s Chief Rabbis, with the earliest known dating as far back as 1746. The Jew’s gate cemetery is located just a few hundred metres to the South of a contemporary Christian cemetery which was sited opposite what is now the Bishop’s residence in Engineer Road.

Within the centre of the cemetery is a stone wall 1.5 metres (4.9 ft) in height which encloses the burial sites of ten to twelve of Gibraltar's Judges of Religious Law. The gravestones are mainly horizontal, in the Sephardic style, and many noted rabbis are buried here. A raised pathway leads over the graves.

Rabbi Roni Hassid writing on the Gibraltar Jewish Community web site noted that:¹

‘Until recently, many of the graves were covered over with mud and peat. Those are the best preserved. Others that were exposed to the elements have become illegible, and many of the stones have crumbled.

During the winter and spring months, the vegetation is allowed to grow rapidly and profusely giving the impression of neglect. In fact, the place is the favourite mating ground of the rare Barbary partridge and it is in deference to the Ornithological Society that the vegetation is left until after the nesting season. Lag BaOmer sees the traditional annual pilgrimage to the tombs of the Tsadikim (Righteous people) and by then the shrubs have usually been cleared.’

Jews' Cemetery 1865 OS Map.

According to Rabbi Hassid:²

The oldest tomb of the Tsadikim (Righteous people) within the enclosure, at the far left, is that of Chief Rabbi Solomon Abudarham. He succeeded Rabbi Yehuda ben Yitshak Halevi as Gibraltar's Chief Rabbi. Abudarham inaugurated the Flemish Synagogue on Line Wall Road at the turn of the 19th century, laying the stone which still bears his name. He also established a school of religious study in Parliament Lane. Abudarham died in 1804, victim of a yellow fever epidemic. In 1820, the Academy of Rabbi Solomon Abudarham on Parliament Lane was converted into the Abudarham Synagogue. The inscription on his gravestone reads:

Tomb of the crown of our head, the sage versed in every area of the Torah, famed Dayan (judge), Light of the West, the eminent rabbi from distinguished family, honourable teacher and rabbi Shelomo Abudarham of blessed memory, called to the Heavenly court 4th Heshvan 5565 (December 1804).

The second oldest tombstone is the third from the left. The grave is that of Rabbi Raphael Moshe Hassan, who died in 1810. His inscription is also legible and reads:

Tomb of our master, teacher and rabbi, a sage complete in his knowledge of all areas of Tora, Dayan and teacher, pious and humble, his honour our teacher and rabbi Raphael Moshe Hassan, of blessed memory, called to the Heavenly Court …5th Adar 1 year 5570 from the creation (1810).

The fifth tomb from the left in the enclosure is that of Rabbi Avraham Haim Burgel, the son of Rabbi Nathan Burgel, author of Hok Natan. The younger Burgel died in 1813. His epitaph is:

The tomb of the sage versed in all areas of the Tora, our honourable teacher and rabbi Abraham Hayim Burgel, son of that Tsadik the rabbi “Hok Natan” of blessed memory, and his repose was on Wednesday 22nd Elul 5573 (1813).

Rabbi Yeshaya Anahory also died in 1813, shortly after Rabbi Burgel. His tomb is within the far right of the walled enclosure. His inscription has been transcribed as:

This is the tomb of the sage in all areas of Tora, the famed judge, the pious and humble honourable teacher and Rabbi Yeshaya Anahory of blessed memory, and his repose was in honour on 6th Tishri 5574 (1813).

The gravestone second from the left is that of Rabbi Yosef Elmalech ben Ayush. He first served as a rabbi in Morocco in 1788, and later accepted the position of Dayan (rabbinical judge) in Gibraltar, and remained there until his death in 1823.

The fourth gravestone from the left is that of Rabbi Avraham Yisrael who died in 1844.

In the southern portion of the cemetery is a smaller enclosure with just a single grave, that of Rabbi Yisrael ben Yeshaya who died in 1841. After his death, the position of Chief Rabbi in Gibraltar remained open for four decades.

Adjacent to the wall surrounding the rabbi's tomb, is that of Rabbi Yitshak Halevi III. He died in 1847, the year before the cemetery's closing. By then, there was little remaining space in the graveyard, which would make sense of the south-north orientation of his tomb, compared to the east-west alignment of other graves.

Another grave within Jews' Gate Cemetery is that of Rabbi Raphael Hayyim Moses Benaim.

Illustration from the notebook of Major General Henry Sandlham, circa 1820, titled 'From Jewish burial ground, back of Commissioners Garden,looking over Gibraltar'.

Jews' gate tombstone.

It is tradition to bury Rabbis within a mini enclosure as a feature of respect. The legend is told that Rabbi Abraham Israel passed away on a Friday morning in the 1780’s and the Community wished to carry out the burial during that same day before the onset of the Sabbath that Friday evening. The Burial Committee wishing to bury the Rabbi within the existing enclosure where five other Rabbis were buried, discovered there was not enough room within the enclosure. There was not enough time to extend the enclosure or build a new one. It is said that the President of the Burial Committee made an exhortation to heaven that if Rabbi Israel was worthy enough to be buried with the other five Rabbis, that they should make room for him. Miraculously, when the workers came to prepare the grave they discovered that there was now precisely room enough, and Rabbi Israel was interred amongst his peers.³

It is not clear why the Jewish community in Gibraltar selected such an inhospitable location for their cemetery. Several reasons have been proposed: firstly, Jewish law dictates that a cemetery cannot be located within the limits of a built up city; secondly, to locate the cemetery to the North of the town could have political consequences that if any land North of the Rock were ever to revert to Spain, there was still in force in Spain the Decree of Expulsion of 1492, which would not allow Jews to reside in Spain, whether alive or deceased; thirdly, Jew s Gate halfway up the Rock at its southern extremity faced directly towards Tetuan whence they arrived in Gibraltar.⁴

The cemetery was finally closed for burials on the 6^th May 1848, a decision which was vigorously contested by the Jewish Community to the extent that a memorandum was even presented to the House of Commons. However, the Governments decision was to be ratified in a letter dated the 31^st May 1848 by the Colonial Secretary who stated that:⁵

“The Governor has given conclusive orders that no more interments shall take place at the former Burial Ground above Wind Mill Hill but that all future Hebrew dead shall be deposited in the allotted portion of the New Cemetery.”

View of Windmill Hill from Jews Gate Cemetery, circa 1880s. Taken from the book Gibraltar 1888.

From then on, for the remainder of the 19^th century and well into the 20^th century the Upper Rock became a military zone, and civilians were not allowed to enter the Upper Rock unless provided with a special permit. Jew’s Gate Cemetery consequently became non-accessible and the military authorities issued a special permit for one day in the year, viz. on Lag Baomer, the Jewish equivalent to All Saints Day, when members of the Jewish Community were permitted to visit the cemetery.

However, circa 1925, it is said that Mrs Sarah Camila Mattana, the wife of Moses H. Mattana, then President of the Shaar Hashamayim Synagogue, had a dream, where the people buried in Jew s Gate Cemetery were inviting her to come and pay them a visit.

In the morning she informed her husband of her dream but they did not give it much importance. The following night Mrs Mattana once again experienced a repetition of the previous night s dream. When she once again had the dream recurring after three nights, both she and her husband felt they had to do something about it. They went and informed Rabbi Solomon Elmaleh, the Community s Chief Rabbi, about the recurring dream. Rabbi Elmaleh decided to contact the military authorities and requested an extraordinary one-off permit to visit the cemetery. The date was nowhere near the Lag Baomer visiting time but the authorities granted the special permit, and Rabbi Elmaleh accompanied by Mr Mattana and representatives of the Burial Committee went up to Jew s Gate. On arrival they were absolutely shocked to discover a platoon of soldiers excavating a trench down the middle of the cemetery to lay a water pipe. The excavation was unearthing human remains which is anathema to Jewish practice. Following a very strong protest from the Jewish Community, the excavations were stopped, the human remains carefully collected and re-interred, and it was decided to lay the water pipe above ground. One can certainly describe the situation as a call from the other side.

The area, however, remained closed as military site and again almost forgotten until reduced military requirements in the area made access possible. In 1984, the area was almost overgrown but three or four graves were uncovered and cleaned and this discovery led to the other graves being slowly uncovered.

In 1989, the Gibraltar Heritage Trust designated the Jews' Gate Cemetery on Windmill Hill as a Category A Listed Building on Schedule 1, as noted in the Gibraltar Heritage Trust Act. This inclusion was ratified in the Heritage and Antiquities Act of 2018.

Main cemetery enclosure.

WSRM Architects were commissioned by the Managing Board of the Jewish Community (MBJC) in November 2012, to act as Architects, Project Managers, Lead Designers and Contract Administrators in order to design and deliver a refurbished, improved and safe access for visitors to the Jews Gate Cemetery.

WSRM’s initial designs explored ideas to resolve issues posed by the challenges related to the religious sensitivity, historical nature and Heritage value of the area, as well as the physical site constraints such as the steep gradient of the incline and the closeness of one grave to the next. The original access within the site constituted narrow and slightly raised concrete walkways weaving between graves, positioned in an attempt to prevent visitors stepping on the tombstones.

WSRM’s solution was to replace the existing paths and provide a safe raised walkway system. This would be as a sensitive intervention with minimal supports giving a sense of ‘lifting’ while still affording a visual connection to the tombs below as visitors walk over. Access into the site would also be improved with the addition of a ramp, new stairway and easily accessible paths to the lower section of the cemetery for visitors with physical impairment. Materials for the new installations were carefully specified by the Architects so as not to detract from, but enhance, the original historical features.

In order to facilitate the implementation of the design, WSRM Architects commissioned a specialist Ground Radar Survey to specific areas of the site in order to determine the exact positions of the walkway’s structural supports without disturbing any of the graves. These ‘markers’ were then used to plot out a journey connecting key areas, resting points and places for meditation. This journey through the raised walkways would also provide a ‘nature experience’, amid aged tree canopies found within and along the fringes of the site.

Following Planning Approval of the proposals, the Project received funding in the form of a Gibraltar Government Grant to aid the realization of the scheme.

The works at the same time resulted in the discovery of a number of further graves that had been covered over with soil but whose inscriptions are perfectly legible. This is in contrast to a majority of the tombstones that have been exposed to the elements for over 200 years and are no longer legible as a result of erosion of the relatively soft sandstone which was commonly used at the time. A recent topographical survey of the cemetery has revealed in excess of 800 graves and it would appear probable that there could be further graves to the South and West extremities.⁶

Index of Jews' Gate Cemetery burial site.

The cemetery was officially rededicated on the 31^st May 2015 after extensive clean up and restoration. The UK’s Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis attended the ceremony, along with other dignitaries including the President of the Gibraltar Hebrew Community James Levy and the Chief Minister of Gibraltar Fabian Picardo, who unveiled a commemorative plaque.⁷

In October 2015, the Jews Gate Cemetery received a Group Heritage Award by the Gibraltar Heritage Trust - ‘for the sensitive installation of raised walkways and improved access to this Historic site.⁸