Congregation Agudath Shalom

Congregation Agudath Shalom, also known as Agudas Sholom the Walnut Street Synagogue or the Walnut Street Shul, is an active, historic Open Orthodox Jewish synagogue at 145 Walnut Street in Chelsea, Massachusetts.

Congregation Agudath Shalom
Location145 Walnut St., Chelsea, Massachusetts
Coordinates42°23′34.5″N 71°2′15″W
Area0.2 acres (0.081 ha)
Built1909
ArchitectJoll, Harry Dustin
Architectural styleRomanesque
NRHP reference No.93000283[1]
Added to NRHPApril 16, 1993

History

The congregation was founded in 1887.[2] The present building was erected in 1909, one year after the great fire that destroyed a third of the buildings in the city. The architect was Harry Dustin Joll. The congregation's previous building was destroyed in the great fire.[3]

It is the oldest surviving synagogue in Chelsea, a city that was one-third Jewish at the time the synagogue was built.[4]

The synagogue possesses a "remarkable" series of wall and ceiling frescoes painted by Jewish immigrant artists.[5] The "magnificent" carved Torah Ark was created by a noted Boston-area cabinetmaker who specialized in synagogue furniture, San Katz, in the 1920s.[4] The synagogue was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1993.

Agudas Sholom chapel at Everett Jewish Cemetery

2016

In 2016, Congregation Agudath Shalom hired Rabbi Lila Kagedan as its full-time spiritual leader. Kagedan is the first graduate of Yeshivat Maharat to take the title of Rabbi for her work as a female Orthodox leader. She had previously worked and taught in the Boston area for over ten years. The Synagogue continues to operate as an Orthodox Shul.[6] Kagedan is the first female rabbi of a U.S. Orthodox Jewish synagogue.[7]

See also

References
  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
  2. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2009-09-09. Retrieved 2009-10-20.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. The Burning of Chelsea by Walter Merriam Pratt Published by Sampson publishing company, 1908, p. 46
  4. Chelsea, By Harriman Clarke, Arcadia Publishing, 2003, p. 87
  5. Marilyn J. Chiat, America's Religious Architecture, Wiley, 1997 p. 51
  6. "Chelsea's historic Walnut Street Shul preserves a future". jewishjournal.org. Retrieved 2017-06-19.
  7. "Meet the First Female Orthodox Rabbi". The Cut. Retrieved 2019-05-05.


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