Our History
The Adams Street Shul has a rich history. Founded in 1911, Adams Street was the first synagogue in Newton. The building, dedicated on Chanukah December 1912, the building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is a true symbol of Jewish Boston's longevity and lasting spirit!
As the only synagogue in Newton until 1940, Adams Street has a history of including Jews of every level of observance and belief. The membership has always included members who are representative of every variety of Jewish belief and practice. People who come every week, people who come only on the holidays, people who come once a year, it is a home for everyone. The strong sense of community has been and remains the hallmark of our modern Orthodox congregation.
A unique feature of the shul is the existence and placement of the bimot (platforms). While founded by Ukrainian or Ashkenazi Jews, the synagogue has a center bimah more in the tradition of Sephardic Jews. The center bimah is the core of the service takes place, while the front bimah is where the rabbi sits and, of course houses the Aron.
Adam Street’s Aron is a unique and historical piece of art. In the early 20th century, the women of the community commission Samuel Katz to design and build an Ark. Each aspect of the the work was specifically designed with intent and meaning for the community. Our Ark is one of only two Arks in still surviving congregations in the Greater Boston area.
Mr. Katz, was one of the most prolific Ark builders in the country and his work is now represented in the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.
Until 1990, this modern Orthodox congregation was lay led. We did not have a rabbi until the 1990s.
Our Founding Community
Around 1890, Jews from Ukraine began immigrating to Newton’s Nonantum immigrant neighborhood. This Russian community was joined by a a small number of Jews from Hungary. Unlike others of the time, these newcomers did not establish an exclusively Jewish neighborhood but were integrated into the diverse community consisting of Irish, French Canadian and Italian immigrants. This was a contrast to their lives in their countries of origin where they were forced to live in segregated villages or shtetls.
The early Hungarian immigrants came from families with a history of business and storekeeping and quickly established businesses along Watertown Steet, the main shopping street in the neighborhood. The Russian immigrants did not have that kind of commercial expertise or the money to open stores so they were peddlers who specialized in various ways, collecting paper, metal, textiles and other “junk,” and offering delivery services for local businesses and individuals. While this seems like a limited way to earn money, within ten years or so, the local Jewish peddlers were able to buy or build their own homes, even getting mortgages from local banks.
The community probably had fewer than one hundred families. They prospered and by 1920, every family owned their own homes and businesses. The younger generation went on to higher education and establishing new businesses as well.
In its early days, the congregation could not afford the benches normally found in synagogues; instead members brought their own kitchen chairs. Later, the old wooden desks with metal frames that could be fastened to the floor, were added, not necessarily very comfortable for adult men. The benches currently in use were donated by Congregation Kehillath Israel in Brookline when they renovated their sanctuary.so the benches are the right era but not original to the shul.
A book, entitled “The Adams Street Shul, A congregation, a community a culture,” written by Beryl Gilfix, is available on Amazon.