Shaarai Torah Synagogue
Encyclopedia
Shaarai Torah Synagogue is an historic synagogue building at 32 Providence Street in Worcester, Massachusetts
. Worcester's first Modern Orthodox
"shul" (and 6th overall), Shaarai Torah was considered the city's "Mother Synagogue" for many years.
) Hall at 26 Trumbull Street while the present structure was being built. At a final cost of $30,000 ($ in current dollar terms), the new building, designed by Edwin T. Chapin in a Classical Revival style, and modeled after Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun
in New York City, opened on September 14, 1906.
Temple Emanuel
or Conservative
Congregation Beth Israel
as Orthodoxy fell out of favor with most upwardly mobile American Jews. On September 10, 1959, Shaarai Torah purchased the former home of Beth Israel
at 835 Pleasant Street as a west side branch, naming it Shaarai Torah West. The original building became known as Shaarai Torah East. Shaarai Torah West, affiliated with the Orthodox Union
, became an independent congregation on November 9, 1964 and continues to operate to this day.
in 1990. The synagogue stopped functioning in 1996 and finally closed shortly after a devastating arson fire in 1999. Once one of at least 12 neighborhood Orthodox synagogues, when it closed Shaarai Torah was the last remaining functioning synagogue on the east side of Worcester. The building had been sold in 1997 to Al Tapper, a New York philanthropist who had plans to turn it into a Jewish museum, but those plans were scrapped after the fire.
Worcester, Massachusetts
Worcester is a city and the county seat of Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Named after Worcester, England, as of the 2010 Census the city's population is 181,045, making it the second largest city in New England after Boston....
. Worcester's first Modern Orthodox
Modern Orthodox Judaism
Modern Orthodox Judaism is a movement within Orthodox Judaism that attempts to synthesize Jewish values and the observance of Jewish law, with the secular, modern world....
"shul" (and 6th overall), Shaarai Torah was considered the city's "Mother Synagogue" for many years.
Origins
The congregation, which was incorporated on January 1, 1904, held daily worship services for two years in a cottage they had purchased at 32 Providence Street in the heart of Worcester's east side Union Hill neighborhood, where most Jewish immigrants to Worcester lived. High Holiday services in 1904 and 1905 were held at A.O.H. (Ancient Order of HiberniansAncient Order of Hibernians
The Ancient Order of Hibernians is an Irish Catholic fraternal organization. Members must be Catholic and either Irish born or of Irish descent. Its largest membership is now in the United States, where it was founded in New York City in 1836...
) Hall at 26 Trumbull Street while the present structure was being built. At a final cost of $30,000 ($ in current dollar terms), the new building, designed by Edwin T. Chapin in a Classical Revival style, and modeled after Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun
Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun
Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun is a Modern Orthodox synagogue, located on East 85th Street on the Upper East Side of the New York City borough of Manhattan. The synagogue was founded in 1872...
in New York City, opened on September 14, 1906.
Merger
Most of the charter members of Shaarai Torah had left Congregation Sons of Abraham, Worcester's second-oldest synagogue, because they felt it did not meet the needs of the younger generation. One of the major issues was the use of English in the synagogue. As early as 1907, Sons of Abraham leaders discussed implementing changes to make merging with Shaarai Torah possible. The merger finally took place in 1948. From then on, the synagogue was officially known as Congregation Shaarai Torah Sons of Abraham.West Side Branch
By 1957, roughly 74% of Worcester's 9,333 Jews lived on the tonier west side of the city, leaving less than 1,600 living on the east side. Additionally, most west side Jews, who were generally younger and more assimilated than those who remained on the east side, attended ReformReform Judaism (North America)
Reform Judaism is the largest denomination of American Jews today. With an estimated 1.5 million members, it also accounts for the largest number of Jews affiliated with Progressive Judaism worldwide.- Reform Jewish theology :Rabbi W...
Temple Emanuel
Temple Emanuel (Worcester, Massachusetts)
Temple Emanuel is a leading Reform Jewish synagogue located in Worcester, Massachusetts, affiliated with the Union for Reform Judaism. Founded in 1921, it is the oldest and largest Reform congregation in Worcester. The current building was constructed in 1949 and greatly expanded in 1961 when...
or Conservative
Conservative Judaism
Conservative Judaism is a modern stream of Judaism that arose out of intellectual currents in Germany in the mid-19th century and took institutional form in the United States in the early 1900s.Conservative Judaism has its roots in the school of thought known as Positive-Historical Judaism,...
Congregation Beth Israel
Congregation Beth Israel (Worcester, Massachusetts)
Congregation Beth Israel is an egalitarian Conservative congregation located at 15 Jamesbury Drive in Worcester, Massachusetts. Founded in 1924 as an Orthodox synagogue, it formally affiliated with the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism in 1949, and describes itself as the "leading...
as Orthodoxy fell out of favor with most upwardly mobile American Jews. On September 10, 1959, Shaarai Torah purchased the former home of Beth Israel
Congregation Beth Israel (Worcester, Massachusetts)
Congregation Beth Israel is an egalitarian Conservative congregation located at 15 Jamesbury Drive in Worcester, Massachusetts. Founded in 1924 as an Orthodox synagogue, it formally affiliated with the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism in 1949, and describes itself as the "leading...
at 835 Pleasant Street as a west side branch, naming it Shaarai Torah West. The original building became known as Shaarai Torah East. Shaarai Torah West, affiliated with the Orthodox Union
Orthodox Union
The Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America , more popularly known as the Orthodox Union , is one of the oldest Orthodox Jewish organizations in the United States. It is best known for its kosher food preparation supervision service...
, became an independent congregation on November 9, 1964 and continues to operate to this day.
Final Days
The Providence Street building was added to the National Register of Historic PlacesNational Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
in 1990. The synagogue stopped functioning in 1996 and finally closed shortly after a devastating arson fire in 1999. Once one of at least 12 neighborhood Orthodox synagogues, when it closed Shaarai Torah was the last remaining functioning synagogue on the east side of Worcester. The building had been sold in 1997 to Al Tapper, a New York philanthropist who had plans to turn it into a Jewish museum, but those plans were scrapped after the fire.
Redevelopment
Abandoned and in disrepair, the synagogue was added to the Worcester Preservation Society's list of endangered properties. In 2003, the building was finally sold to developer Selim LaHoud who, with Kopec Contracting, has converted it into 13 apartments known as Red Oak Condominiums.Worcester East Side Synagogue History
| Hebrew Name | Transliteration | English Translation | Address(es) | Years Open | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| בני ישראל | B'nai Yisrael | Sons of Israel Jacob Jacob "heel" or "leg-puller"), also later known as Israel , as described in the Hebrew Bible, the Talmud, the New Testament and the Qur'an was the third patriarch of the Hebrew people with whom God made a covenant, and ancestor of the tribes of Israel, which were named after his descendants.In the... |
79 Green Street, 24 Providence Street | 1875-1957 | Torn down for construction of I-290 Interstate 290 (Massachusetts) Interstate 290 runs for from Auburn, Massachusetts to Marlborough, Massachusetts. It is a continuation of I-395 north of I-90 and runs through downtown Worcester, Massachusetts, I-190 splits off, and I-290 runs across Lake Quinsigamond and east to I-495 in Marlborough... in 1957 |
| בני אברהם | B'nai Avraham | Sons of Abraham Abraham Abraham , whose birth name was Abram, is the eponym of the Abrahamic religions, among which are Judaism, Christianity and Islam... |
10 Plymouth Street (1888-1913), 23 Coral Street | 1886-1948 | Merged with Shaarai Torah in 1948 |
| שערי צדק | Shaarei Tzedek | Gates of Righteousness Righteousness Righteousness is an important theological concept in Zoroastrianism, Hinduism , Judaism, Christianity and Islam... |
8 Beach Street, 16 Gold Street, 3 Summit Street | 1892-? | also known as Tower of Truth |
| אגודת אחים | Agudas Achim | Union of Brothers | 19 Brown Street, 9 Pond Street | 189?-? | also known as Good Brothers |
| (צמח צדק (אנשי סמוליאן | Tzemach Tzedek (Anshe Smolian) | Plant of Justice (People of Smolyan Smolyan Smolyan is a town and ski resort in the very south of Bulgaria not far from the border with Greece. It is the administrative and industrial centre of the homonymous Smolyan Province... ) |
10 Plymouth Street | 1900-1923 | Changed name to Sons of Jacob in 1923 |
| שערי תורה | Shaarai Torah | Gates of Learning Torah Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five books of the bible—Genesis , Exodus , Leviticus , Numbers and Deuteronomy Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five... |
32 Providence Street | 1904-1999 | |
| (אגודת ישראל (אנשי ספרד | Agudas Israel (Anshe Safard) | Union of Israel (Sephardic) | 66 Harrison Street | 1913-196? | |
| בני יעקב | B'nai Yaakov | Sons of Jacob Jacob Jacob "heel" or "leg-puller"), also later known as Israel , as described in the Hebrew Bible, the Talmud, the New Testament and the Qur'an was the third patriarch of the Hebrew people with whom God made a covenant, and ancestor of the tribes of Israel, which were named after his descendants.In the... |
104 Harrison Street | 1923-1965 | Merged with Tifereth Israel (West Side) in 1965 |
| תפארת ישראל | Tifereth Israel | Pride of Israel | 42 Harrison Street | 19??-1957 | Torn down for construction of I-290 Interstate 290 (Massachusetts) Interstate 290 runs for from Auburn, Massachusetts to Marlborough, Massachusetts. It is a continuation of I-395 north of I-90 and runs through downtown Worcester, Massachusetts, I-190 splits off, and I-290 runs across Lake Quinsigamond and east to I-495 in Marlborough... in 1957 |
| בני ציון | B'nai Tzion | Sons of Zion | |||
| קדימה | Kadimah Kadimah (student association) Kadimah was the first Jewish student association in Vienna, founded many years before Theodor Herzl became the leading spokesman of the Zionist movement.... |
Forward | |||
| אנשי ראקישוק | Anshe Rakishok Rokiškis Rokiškis is a city in northeastern Lithuania with population of about 16,000.-History:The legend of the founding of Rokiškis tells about a hunter called Rokas who had been hunting for hares . However, cities ending in "-kiškis" are quite popular in the region. The city was first mentioned in 1499... |
People of Rokiškis Rokiškis Rokiškis is a city in northeastern Lithuania with population of about 16,000.-History:The legend of the founding of Rokiškis tells about a hunter called Rokas who had been hunting for hares . However, cities ending in "-kiškis" are quite popular in the region. The city was first mentioned in 1499... |
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See also
- Temple Emanuel (Worcester, Massachusetts)Temple Emanuel (Worcester, Massachusetts)Temple Emanuel is a leading Reform Jewish synagogue located in Worcester, Massachusetts, affiliated with the Union for Reform Judaism. Founded in 1921, it is the oldest and largest Reform congregation in Worcester. The current building was constructed in 1949 and greatly expanded in 1961 when...
- Congregation Beth Israel (Worcester, Massachusetts)Congregation Beth Israel (Worcester, Massachusetts)Congregation Beth Israel is an egalitarian Conservative congregation located at 15 Jamesbury Drive in Worcester, Massachusetts. Founded in 1924 as an Orthodox synagogue, it formally affiliated with the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism in 1949, and describes itself as the "leading...