Four times a year, Sinai Memorial Chapel invites the Northern California Jewish community to drop off sheymot, discarded sacred items, that were once used for a holy purpose and now, for any reason, need to be discarded into a Genizah, a reserved area, with dignity.
The next time to bring in your sacred items for burial will take place on July 28, 2025 from 9am to 4pm.
Three Drop Off Locations
Eternal Home
Cemetery
1051 El Camino Real Colma 94014
(650)755-5236
Home of Eternity
Cemetery + Mausoleum
5000 Piedmont Ave, Oakland 94611
(925)962-3636
Gan Shalom
Memorial Park
1100 Bear Creek Rd, Briones 94553
(925) 228-3636
Guidelines
- FREE: There is no charge to inter any of these eligible Jewish items with innate holiness to the residential communities of Northern California.
- DROP-OFF LOCATIONS: Sinai staff will receive sacred items at Colma’s Eternal Home Cemetery, Oakland’s Home of Eternity, and Briones’ Gan Shalom Cemetery. Items may not be dropped off at any of our funeral home mortuary offices or otherwise left unattended as it may compromise the respect that the items needing to be buried deserve.
- QUARTERLY DROP-OFF: Sinai provides this free service four (4) times per year. Items will not be received or accepted at other times. These are the next scheduled dates for drop-off: July 28, 2025, Monday, October 27, 2025, Monday, January 26, 2026, and Monday, March 30, 2026.
- BIODEGRADABLE: Sinai accepts paper in the form of prayer books (bentcher, birchonim, machzorim, siddurim), prayer shawls & phylacteries (talesim and tefillin). Please do not bring any plastic or laminate items.
- SORT IN ADVANCE: Please sort and place all items into a cardboard box prior to arriving at the cemetery. There is not dignified space for sorting at any of our cemeteries.
- NO UNNECESSARY ITEMS: Skull Caps (Kippot, kippah, yarmulke or koppel), Jewish newspapers, Hebrew language books, flyers, or secular in purpose items.
Please give us a call at any of the cemeteries or be in touch with our Cemetery Superintendent, Kelly Bonillas if you have an urgent need outside of the quarterly schedule so we can try and work with you.