Congregation Agudath Shalom

Congregation Agudath Shalom
Congregation Agudath Shalom
	Congregation Agudath Shalom synagogue
Religion
Affiliation	Orthodox Judaism
Rite	Open Orthodoxy
Location
Location	145 Walnut Street, Chelsea, Massachusetts
	Location in Massachusetts
Geographic coordinates	42°23′34″N 71°2′15″W / 42.39278°N 71.03750°W
Architecture
Architect(s)	Harry Dustin Joll
Style	Romanesque Revival
Date established	1887 (as a congregation)
Completed	1909
Website
	walnutstreetsynagogue.com
	Congregation Agudath Shalom
	U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Area	0.2 acres (0.081 ha)
NRHP reference No.	93000283
Added to NRHP	April 16, 1993

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

History[edit]

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.

2016[edit]

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]

Gallery[edit]

Agudas Sholom chapel at Everett Jewish Cemetery

References[edit]

^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
^ "Chelsea's Synagogues". Archived from the original on September 9, 2009. Retrieved October 20, 2009.
^ The Burning of Chelsea by Walter Merriam Pratt Published by Sampson publishing company, 1908, p. 46
^ ^a ^b Chelsea, By Harriman Clarke, Arcadia Publishing, 2003, p. 87
^ Marilyn J. Chiat, America's Religious Architecture, Wiley, 1997 p. 51
^ "Chelsea's historic Walnut Street Shul preserves a future". jewishjournal.org. June 15, 2017. Retrieved June 19, 2017.
^ "Meet the First Female Orthodox Rabbi". The Cut. Retrieved May 5, 2019.