The Gan Zikaron Genizah
geniza hebrew

The Gan Zikaron Genizah

As a service to the Jewish Community of Greater Washington, the Garden of Remembrance (Gan Zikaron) Memorial Park buries worn prayerbooks, Torah scrolls, t’fillin, and other sacred texts containing the Hebrew name for God in our “genizah.” The Hebrew word genizah means “hidden” or “reserved” and was traditionally a place where Jews store sacred documents when they fell out of use prior to burial. The word was later used as the place that sacred texts were buried to respect God’s holy name in accordance with Jewish tradition.

The Garden of Remembrance Genizah, generously and thoughtfully dedicated by Ellen and Stewart Share in memory of the 1.5 million children who were killed in the Holocaust, is nearly full but is still accepting a limited amount of sacred texts while an additional burial location at Gan Zikaron is selected. 

For information about the Garden of Remembrance Genizah,
please contact David Kaler at the memorial park office (301-428-3000).