Temple Israel (Boston, Massachusetts)

For other synagogues named "Temple Israel", see Temple Israel.

Temple Israel is a Reform synagogue in Boston.

Contents

History

Temple Israel, originally known as Adath Israel, was founded in 1854 when Jews of German ancestry seceded from Ohabei Shalom, then the sole synagogue in Boston, because so many Polish Jews had joined the congregation.[1] The congregation immediately renovated a house on Pleasant Street for use as a synagogue. In 1859 it purchased land in Wakefield, Massachusetts for a cemetery.[2]

Architecture

In 1885 the congregaton erected "the first architecturally significant synagogue" in Massachusetts. The Rundbogenstil building, with twin towers and a Rose window in the form of a Magen David stood at 600 Columbus Avenue, at the corner of Northampton. Today it is the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church.[3] It is the oldest synagogue building still standing in Massachusetts.

In 1906 the congregation moved to a new building that is now the Morse Auditorium of Boston University.[4]

In 1926 the congregation began work on a new Temple, on the Riverway at Longwood Avenue. The "monumental," Classical building was planned to have an enormous, domed sanctuary, with flanking wings. Only the West wing, about one-fifth of the planned space, was completed before the stock market crash of 1929.[5]

References

  1. ^ The Jews of Boston, Sarna, Jonathan D., and Smith, Ellen, editors, Boston, 1995, p. 169
  2. ^ The Jews of Boston, Sarna, Jonathan D., and Smith, Ellen, editors, Boston, 1995, p. 170
  3. ^ The Jews of Boston, Sarna, Jonathan D., and Smith, Ellen, editors, Boston, 1995, p. 176
  4. ^ The Jews of Boston, Sarna, Jonathan D., and Smith, Ellen, editors, Boston, 1995, p. 177
  5. ^ The Jews of Boston, Sarna, Jonathan D., and Smith, Ellen, editors, Boston, 1995, p. 196

External links