Beth Israel Synagogue (Cambridge, Massachusetts)

{{short description|Historic former Reform synagogue in Massachusetts}}

{{for|similarly named synagogues|Beth Israel (disambiguation){{!}}Beth Israel}}

{{Infobox religious building

| name = Beth Israel Synagogue

| native_name =

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| image = Beth Israel Synagogue Cambridge MA.jpg

| image_upright = 1.4

| alt =

| caption = The former synagogue, in 2010

| religious_affiliation = Conservative Judaism (former)

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| rite = Sephardic

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| organisational_status = {{ubl|Synagogue {{small|(1903{{endash}}1962)}}|Residential apartments}}

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| functional_status = Closed; and repurposed

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| location = 238 Columbia Street, Cambridge, Middlesex County, Massachusetts

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| country = United States

| map_type = Massachusetts

| map_size = 250

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| map_relief = 1

| map_caption = Location of the former synagogue in Massachusetts

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| coordinates = {{coords|42|22|9|N|71|05|46|W|region:US-MA_type:landmark|display=it}}

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| architect = Nathan Douglass

| architecture_type = Synagogue

| architecture_style = Romanesque Revival

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| established = 1900 {{small|(as a congregation)}}

| groundbreaking =

| year_completed = 1903

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| module = {{Infobox NRHP

| embed = yes

| name = Beth Israel Synagogue

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| area = less than one acre

| added = April 13, 1982

| mpsub = Cambridge MRA

| refnum = 82001921

}}

| footnotes = {{NRISref|2008a}}

}}

Beth Israel Synagogue is a historic former Jewish synagogue building at 238 Columbia Street in Cambridge, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, in the United States. Built in 1903, it was the first and principal synagogue to serve the East Cambridge area, and is a fine local example of Romanesque Revival architecture. Now converted into residential condominiums, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.

Description

The former Beth Israel Synagogue stands in The Port neighborhood of eastern Cambridge, on the east side of Columbia Street, between Hampshire and Market Streets. It is a two-story brick building with a gabled roof and flanking square towers. Its Romanesque Revival styling includes bands of narrow round-arch windows and a large Syrian arch sheltering the main entrance. Brick corbelling adorns the eaves of the pyramidal tower roofs, and is featured in multiple bands at the base of the front gable. The building was designed by Nathan Douglass{{cite web|url=https://mhc-macris.net/details?mhcid=cam.107|title=NRHP nomination and MACRIS inventory record for Beth Israel Synagogue|publisher=Commonwealth of Massachusetts|access-date=2017-01-10}} and completed in 1903.

History

The known history of Jewish worship in East Cambridge begins in 1898, with the founding of the Sephardic

Congregation Anshai Sfard. It originally met in private residences. Congregation Beth Israel was founded in 1900, and construction was begun on this building in 1901. In 1906 the congregation divided over doctrinal differences, resulting in the founding of Congregation Agudath Ashkenazim. Congregation Anshai Sfard merged with Beth Israel in 1957.{{cite news |work=Life Magazine |date=June 24, 1957 |title=Old Rite Unites Temples: Two Orthodox Synagogues Merge in Cambridge, Massachusetts |page=85 }} In 1962 Beth Israel and Agudath Ashkenazim merged to form Temple Beth Shalom of Cambridge, and the new congregation chose to use the Temple Ashkenaz building on Tremont Street in Cambridge,{{Cite web |url=http://www.tremontstreetshul.org/cos/cos.timeline.html |title=A Century of Shalom: An Exhibit on The History of the Jewish Community in Cambridge |work=Tremont Street Shul |access-date=2009-06-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080513180541/http://www.tremontstreetshul.org/cos/cos.timeline.html |archive-date=2008-05-13 |url-status=dead }}{{cite web |author=Reinhold, Arthur |url=https://theworld.com/~reinhold/cos.history.html |title= Jewish Life in Cambridge - 1896 - 1996 |work=A Century of Shalom - History: A History of the Organized Jewish Community in Cambridge |date=March 25, 1996 |access-date=January 4, 2024 }} now widely known as the Tremont Street Shul.{{cite web |url=https://www.tremontstreetshul.org/history.html |title=Our History |work=Tremont Street Shul |location=Cambridge, MA |date=2024 |access-date=January 4, 2024 }}

By 1982, the Beth Israel building, no longer used as a synagogue, was taken over by the Cambridge Redevelopment Authority, and was added to the National Register of Historic Places. The former synagogue building currently houses condominium units.{{cite web |url=http://findingaids.cjh.org/?pID=360440 |title=Guide to the Records of Congregation Beth Israel-Cambridge, Massachusetts |work=American Jewish Historical Society |date= |access-date= }}