Area 0.2 acres (0.081 ha) Architect Joll, Harry Dustin NRHP Reference # 93000283 | Built 1909 Architectural style Romanesque | |
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Location 145 Walnut St., Chelsea, Massachusetts | ||
Congregation Agudath Shalom, also known as Agudas Sholom the Walnut Street Synagogue or the Walnut Street Shul, is an active, historic Orthodox Jewish synagogue at 145 Walnut Street in Chelsea, Massachusetts.
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History
The congregation was founded in 1887. 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.
It is the oldest surviving synagogue in Chelsea, a city that was one-third Jewish at the time the synagogue was built.
The synagogue possesses a "remarkable" series of wall and ceiling frescoes painted by Jewish immigrant artists. The "magnificent" carved Torah Ark was created by a noted Boston-area cabinetmaker who specialized in synagogue furniture, San Katz, in the 1920s. The synagogue was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1993.
2016
Congregation Agudath Shalom recently hired Rabbi Kagedan as our full-time spiritual leader. Rabbi Kagedan has been working and teaching in the Boston area for over ten years. Previously, Congregation Agudath Shalom had been guided by the spiritual leadership of Rabbi Lipsker of the Chabad of North Shore and will continue to partner with Chabad on various events. The Synagogue continues to operate as an Orthodox Shul.