SÃO PAULO:
São Paulo is the capital of the State of São Paulo and the largest city in South America. Congregacao Israelita Paulista is the largest Jewish congregation in South America, with over 2000 member families. Their Senior Rabbi (Rabbi Henry Sobel) is an American serving since 1975. Their e-mail address is This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and phone number is 55 11 256-7811.
São Paulo has now two Jewish cemeteries -- one in the Vila Mariana district, the other in Butatan.
- Butanan: Butantan is quite far, about 40-50 minutes by car (in light traffic) or about kilometer 20 by the Raposo Tavares Road. The Chevra Kadisha keeps this modern cemetery very nicely. Tombstones are usually small, a bit like in the garden cemeteries of the US. A wonderful Shoah memorial is there. Record of graves is now kept on a computer system. Butantan has an electronic touch screen stand that allows online consultation and printing of data. Butantan has two tahara houses and one "deathwatch" with three cold chambers. Also, there is synagogue for about 150 people where keriyah ceremonies are held. As Butantan is getting full, the community currently is building a third cemetery in the Embu district, still further (35 km) on the Curitiba road (BR 118 to be inaugurated within one year. [1999?]
- Cubatão Cementery: district of Santos, São Paulo, closed. Source: Silvia Levy, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
- Vila Mariana: Only those who acquired a plot many years ago now use the Vila Mariana cemetery. Basically, it is full. Graves date from the early 1910s up to the 1960s when Butantan was built. Before the 1910s, Jews had no cemetery so they were interred in Catholic graveyards. The Consolacao district cemetery (downtown) still has many such graves. The Vila Mariana cemetery is not very far from downtown, about 20 minutes drive. Source of Butanan and Vila Mariana: Tom Venetianer. São Paulo - Brazil: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Non-Jewish Cemeteries with Jewish burials:
- Cemiterio de Araca
- Cemiterio de Congonhas
- Cemiterio de Consolacao:
- Cemiterio de Protestantes
- Cemiterio Redentor
- Cemiterio São Paulo