Originally organized as a burial society, Temple B’nai Jeshurun established an early cemetery on the East Side of Des Moines at the intersection of Delaware and Easton Avenues. Burials at the Children of Israel Cemetery took place into the 1960s, though general use largely ended in the 1930s due to limited space. Today, the cemetery is carefully maintained but inactive and generally kept locked.
The Temple now maintains a dedicated section at the City of Des Moines’ Woodland Cemetery (2019 Woodland Avenue), known as the Emanuel Jewish Cemetery. This section is located near the northwest corner of Woodland Cemetery, at Woodland Avenue and Martin Luther King Jr. Parkway, just northwest of downtown Des Moines. The Emanuel Jewish Cemetery has been endowed through the Temple’s Gordon–Adelman Fund.
A second Jewish section is located at Glendale Cemetery, 4909 University Avenue. Situated at the intersection of 48th Street and University Avenue, west of Drake University, the Jewish section can be found in the southwest corner of the cemetery, adjacent to University Avenue. The Glendale Jewish section is maintained by Tifereth Israel Synagogue.