BY DAN PINE | MARCH 13, 2025

Ron Kahn is a patient man. It took more than a decade of bureaucratic mishegas to  realize his vision of providing a vital service to the Jewish community where he lives. But Magen David, touted as the first new Jewish cemetery in Alameda County in 100 years, is finally open. 

Magen David’s first graveside service and burial were held in early March.

“It was surreal,” Kahn, CEO of Magen David, said of reaching this milestone. “We had overcome all the hurdles. To be able to do something that will benefit the entire Jewish community was the primary goal.”

The 6-acre cemetery, with more than 7,000 plots available, is nestled in the Livermore foothills just off Interstate 580 with the Arroyo Las Positas creek flowing nearby. It is part of the newly opened Monte Vista Memorial Gardens and Mortuary, which covers 104 acres. 

Magen David’s landscape design includes a Star of David-shaped trellis — big enough to be seen from the windows of passing airplanes, according to Kahn — and a perimeter dotted with olive and pomegranate trees. Once construction is complete, the site will include a mortuary, chapel, pavilion, kosher kitchen and mikvah, as well as office space. Kahn said the work should be completed in about two years.

Click here for full story: https://jweekly.com/2025/03/13/new-jewish-cemetery-opens-in-livermore-after-a-decade-of-hurdles/