Hills of Eternity Memorial Park

Judaism views death as a natural part of life. Hills of Eternity Memorial Park honors the two basic principles that are part of this natural life cycle: k’vod ha-mayat — the dignified and respectful treatment of the dead — andk’vod he-chai — the honored treatment of the mourners.

Congregation Sherith Israel established is first cemetery in accordance with these principles when it was founded in 1850. The cemetery was located in Pacific Heights on Vallejo Street, between Gough and Franklin. In 1860, Sherith Israel dedicated its second cemetery in the area that is now Dolores Park. Twenty nine years later, Sherith Israel’s cemetery moved again to its current location in Colma.

Hills of Eternity Memorial Park consists of twenty acres of graciously landscaped gardens at the foot of the San Bruno Mountains. The grounds and mausoleums are respectfully maintained under endowed care. Fresh flower placements and grave ornamentation plantings add to the dignified beauty and serenity of the park.

Traditional ground burials are offered in the memorial gardens. Above ground burial is an offered in the Portals of Eternity and in the Gardens of Eternity Mausoleums. Inurnment and entombment are available in mausoleum niches in an indoor setting at Portals of Eternity and in an outdoor setting at Gardens of Eternity.

The Portals of Eternity mausoleum and chapel were designed by Samuel Hyman and Abraham Appleton, and were built in 1934. With its tall, octagonal tiered towers capped by tiled and copper domed roofs, the mausoleum is an outstanding example of neo-Byzantine architecture.

Hills of Eternity Memorial Park has designated sections for several Bay Area synagogues: Congregation Beth Am, Congregation Beth Jacob, Congregation Kol Emeth, Congregation Or Shalom, Congregation Sha’ar Zahav, and Peninsula Sinai Congregation.

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History

Mount Sinai Memorial Parks and Mortuaries refers to two Jewish cemeteries in the Los Angeles, California metropolitan area. The original cemetery is located at 5950 Forest Lawn Drive in the Hollywood Hills of Los Angeles. The cemetery was originally established in 1953 by the neighboring Forest Lawn-Hollywood Hills Cemetery. It became an exclusively Jewish cemetery in 1959, and in 1967 it was acquired by Sinai Temple, the oldest and largest Conservative synagogue in Los Angeles,  which dedicated its mortuary and cemetery resources to all members of the Jewish community in and around the city. Among those interred here are numerous stars and celebrities from theentertainment industry.

Artwork

Throughout the different sections of the park, one encounters various forms of artwork including mosaics, sculpture, fountains and carvings. The most noticeable is the Heritage Mosaic, which, at 45 feet × 30 feet, depicts a panorama of the Jewish experience in America and is made up of more than 2.5 million pieces of hand-cut Venetian glass. The park also features a memorial monument dedicated to the six million Jews who perished in the Holocaust by renowned Jewish artist, Bernard Zakheim. The six three-dimensional figures, all rendered in burnt and tortured wood, represent six heroic Jewish figures. Rising from the stones of the memorial is a flame that symbolizes the eternal spirit of the six million and the rebirth of Israel from the ashes of the Holocaust.

Expansion[edit]

In 1997, faced with dwindling space at the original Hollywood Hills location and recognizing the need for Jewish burial properties for future generations, Mount Sinai Memorial Parks expanded by opening a second memorial park at 6150 Mount Sinai Drive in Simi Valley.

Notable interments

• Irwin Allen (1916–1991), director, producer, writer
• Art Aragon (1927–2008), boxer
• Danny Arnold (1925–1995), film actor/editor/writer
• Eleanor Audley (1905–1991), actress, voice-over artist
• Frances Bay (1919–2011), actress
• Herschel Bernardi (1923–1986), actor
• Sara Berner (1912–1969), actress, voice-over artist
• Georgia Brown (1933–1992), actress and singer
• Sid Caesar (1922–2014), American actor and comedian
• Virginia Christine (1920–1996), actress, voice artist
• Lee J. Cobb (1911–1976), actor
• Ruth Cohen (1930–2008), actress (Seinfeld)
• Stanley Cortez (1908–1997), cinematographer
• Warren Cowan (1921–2008), publicist
• Mack David (1912–1993), composer
• "Mama" Cass Elliot (1941–1974), singer
• Ziggy Elman (1911–1968), big-band musician and composer
• Fritz Feld (1900–1993), actor
• Norman Fell (1924–1998), actor
• Totie Fields (1930–1978), comedian
• Helen Forrest (1917–1999), singer
• Bonnie Franklin (1944–2013), actress
• Karl Freund (1890–1969), cinematographer
• Bruce Geller (1930–1978), producer
• Sol Gorss (born Saul Gorss) (1908–1966), actor
• Billy Halop (1920–1976), actor
• Larry Harmon (1925–2008), actor and comedian
• Nat Hiken (1914–1968), award-winning writer, director, producer
• Gregg Hoffman (1963–2005), producer
• Peter Hurkos (1911–1988), psychic
• Eddie Kane (1889–1969), actor
• Leonard Katzman (1927–1996), film and TV writer, producer, and director
• Jack Klugman (1922–2012), stage, film, and TV actor
• Suzanne Krull (1966–2013), actress
• John Larch (1914–2005), actor
• Sydney Lassick (1922–2003), actor
• Pinky Lee (1907–1993), actor and comedian
• Robert Q. Lewis (1920–1991), television personality, actor, and game show host
• Bruce Malmuth (1934–2005), director
• Ross Martin (1920–1981), actor
• Laurence Merrick (1926–1977), director and author
• Irving Mills (1894–1985), composer
• Marvin Minoff (1931–2009), film and television producer, executive producer of The Nixon Interviews
• Bill Novey (1948–1991), Special Effects Master/Head of Special Effects at Walt Disney Imagineering/co-founder of Art & Technology, Inc.
• Daniel Pearl (1963–2002), journalist
• Ted Post (1918–2013), film director
• Martin Ragaway (1923–1989), motion picture and television writer
• Mark Robson (1913–1978), director
• David Rose (1910–1990), composer
• Milton Rosen (1922–2000), prolific composer
• Steven Rothenberg (1958–2009), film studio executive (Lions Gate, Artisan Entertainment)[4]
• Mo Rothman (1919–2011), studio executive who persuaded Charlie Chaplin to return to the United States in 1972.
• Walter Scharf (1910–2003), composer
• Al Sherman (1897–1973), songwriter
• Phil Silvers (1912–1985), actor and comedian
• Sidney Skolsky (1905–1983), Hollywood reporter
• Hillel Slovak (1962–1988), guitarist for Red Hot Chili Peppers
• Howard Smit (1911–2009), film make-up artist who led efforts to establish the Academy Award for Best Makeup
• Milton Sperling (1912–1988), American film producer and screenwriter
• Harold J. Stone (1913–2005), actor
• Iwao Takamoto (1925–2007), animator
• Brandon Tartikoff (1949–1997), television executive
• Irving Taylor (1914–1983), songwriter
• Mel Taylor (1933–1996), musician
• Dick Tufeld (1926-2012), actor, announcer, narrator
• Bobby Van (1928–1980), actor and dancer
• Jesse White (1917–1997), actor
• Harry Wilson (1897–1978), actor