Jewish Cemeteries and Gravestones

In Hebrew, the following euphemisms are used to define the Jewish cemetery:
‎בית עולם Beit Olam - "house of peace" or "house of gratitude";
‎בית חיים Beith Haim - "the home of life;
‎בית קברות Beit Quarot "the house of tombs";
‎בית עלמין Beit Almin - "the house of eternity" (an expression borrowed from the Aramaic language).
In Galicia, Ukrainians and Poles used the name "kirkut" (Polish "kirkut", "kierkow", "kierchol", "kirchol", after German "Kirchhof" - "church yard for the burial of the deceased"), as well as "okopysko" (Ukrainain окописько, окопище) - trench, because the place was usually surrounded by moats and an earth shaft on all sides. The speakers of the Yiddish language used names derived from Hebrew: "beisoilem", "beisakvores".

Jewish tombstone - Matseva, transcription "matseva", plural "matsevot" (Hebrew - מצבה; Ukrainian - мацева).

According to D. Goberman, there are 4 types of Jewish gravestones, cut in the form of a ceiling: rectangular, with cut corners, with a figure (circular or semicircular) completion, with a corner on two slopes. 

Many Matsevot (Jewish tombstones) preserved in the Jewish cemeteries of Ukraine, Poland and Moldova, impress the imagination with the richness of decor, a variety of symbols, and testify to the art of Jewish craftsmen-bricklayers.
The symbols depicted on the Matsev, reflect the religious and social status of the deceased, his profession, personal dignity, and others like that.
For example, the hands above the lit candles or candles burning on the sabbath candlesticks were depicted on the grave of a woman, because it was precisely her duty to ignite the Sabbath candles; an open book or a few roots of books - the grave of a rabbi or the author of religious works; goose feather - scribe of sacred texts; scissors - tailor; chain or other jewelry - jeweler; a box or a bowl for collecting donations, a hand giving alms, pointed to the generosity of the deceased, etc. Even death was marked by certain symbols: broken glassware, broken candle, flipped out lamp, hand broke the branch (only on the gravestones of women). The number of fruits on the branches indicated the number of dead children, and on the girls' gravestones the number of flowers corresponded to the years lived. The image on the tombstone of the star of David (hexagonal star) has spread on the territory of the Russian Empire only at the end of the XIX century. - in the beginning of XX century. 

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