I came across this heart warming story recently and thought it was something for us to think about.  Religious communities are often thought to be a thing of the past, where everyone looks after everyone else, but this Jewish community, or rather their family business funeral directors could teach us all a thing or tow.  Hats off to you boys, this is the way it should be done!

Jason Apter grew up in the funeral business thanks to his father, grandfather and great-grandfather, all of whom saw it flourish in Essex County for almost a century, the New Jersey Morristown Daily Record reports.

“My father brought me in one evening when I was 5 years old and on our way to the Jersey Shore,” Apter said. “I have memories that go back that far.”

Apter, 49, chose to pursue a career in money management and watched as Service Corporation International took over the business in 1984. The family name remained on the funeral home, and that is when Apter decided to launch a new venture to cut what was becoming enormous cost for the consumer.

“I really started to see what the corporate environment was like,” said Apter, a Fredon resident. “They kept raising prices. I saw my family name sullied.”

Apter’s, father chose to open two not-for-profit Jewish funeral homes, in Dover and in Cedar Grove, with silent partner Mark Schachman, a Randolph resident who is an endodontist practicing in Florham Park.

In Dover, J.L. Apter Memorial Chapels will be in the Smith-Taylor-Ruggiero building and, in Cedar Grove, Shook’s Cedar Grove building. Both Apter and Schachman have visions of growing to the point of opening their own facility while still keeping costs way below the competitors’ prices. Because demographic trends indicate the Jewish community is moving west, they expect the need to grow.

When SCI purchased Philip Apter & Sons and merged it with another local funeral home, Apter, who’d kept his New Jersey state funeral license, decided to re-enter the business. He has known Schachman for 25 years, dating back to high school.

When Apter came up with the idea of the joint venture, Schachman was more than happy to join him.

“This is what his family is all about, his family name,” Schachman said. “I want to give back to the Jewish community, which is something that has been instilled in me. This is a marriage of two wonderful things. Not that I have funeral-director experience — Jason has the funeral experience. This type of a service should be beneficial to all involved.”

Apter and Schachman choose to significantly undercut their competition and donate a portion of their proceeds to Jewish causes such as education in the name of the deceased. The not-for-profit model is relatively new with just a few Jewish funeral homes of this type across the country.

“We could provide a funeral to a family with little overhead,” Apter said. “We have no mortgage, no taxes, no utilities. We can afford to significantly undercut our competition and donate $500 from every funeral back to select groups in the Jewish community or a synagogue of the family’s choice. We’re trying to donate back to the community.”

“My feeling is that Jewish funeral homes cater to the Jewish community, but they’re not run by Jewish funeral directors,” Schachman said. “We want to give people an option and bring it back to the way it was when his father and grandfather ran it. I am not denying anyone their right to make money, but we like the idea of giving back to the community.”

The cost of Apter’s graveside funerals is $4,695. Two large competitors Apter named in Union and Essex counties cost between $6,100-$7,400. Apter said that the cost saving comes from their business being housed in existing funeral homes, an arrangement known as “dual registration.”

“The extra money goes back to the Jewish community, which is where it should be going,” Apter said. “We have no shareholders to answer to, no huge board of directors, just myself and Mark and our staff. If you look at the economic climate today … I saw this time after time — a family walks in, they’re handed a statement, and the cost is very high.”

According statistics on the Web site of the New Jersey State Funeral Directors Association, the average cost in New Jersey for services rendered by funerals homes ranges from $4,091 to $7,064. Additional costs include caskets ($814 to $4,043) or cremation ($198 to $306) and ground burial at a cemetery ($1,022 to $4,211). But according to the association’s government relations assistant Adam Guziejewski, those price ranges are periodically updated and are expected to be revised soon.

Apter advises families to arrange funerals in advance. The funeral home gets named as the beneficiary and, if interest accrues, the interest goes back to the family.

“We’re able to keep our costs down,” Apter said. “We’re able to pass along a much-needed service. This is an at-need service. Most families don’t plan on the funeral costs. People don’t even think about insurance. Mark and I thought this would be a great opportunity for a much-needed service, and it’s a nice way to give money back.”

Apter and Schachman want to bring back traditional practices such as using synagogues for funerals and making house calls. They believe in the convenience of making funeral arrangements in the home of the deceased. They also offer to do funerals in a home, which was the norm back in the early 1900s.

Way to go boys! Like I said before, maybe the word, spread by good ‘ol boys like these will get around, if they can do it, why can’t everyone else?  What about it boys?