A Century of Faith: The Adams Street Synagogue

Located at 168 Adams Street in Nonantum, the is the oldest synagogue in Newton. This humble structure has served the Jewish community in Newton for 100 years, and in spite of its small size it has a big story of community and faith inside its brick walls.

In the 19^th century, Nonantum, previously known as the North Village, was one of the most diverse neighborhoods in Newton. Waves of immigrants came to this section of town from Ireland, Italy, Canada, and Eastern Europe to settle in the relatively inexpensive homes and take on the industrial jobs the neighborhood offered at the time.

According to Agudas Achim Anshei Sfard: The Adams Street Synagogue, Newton, Massachusetts by local historian Thelma Fleishman, roughly 40 percent of Nonantum children in 1914 were foreign. 

In the 1890s, large numbers of Jewish immigrants came to Nonantum.

“By 1901, at least half of the Jewish families that had come to Newton had settled in Nonantum," Fleishman said in her book. "They came from Russia, many of them from the Ukraine, and from the old Austro-Hungarian Empire.”

Although there were many Jewish families concentrated in Nonantum, they had no formal place to worship in the early years, and as recent immigrants to the United States, did not the financial means to build a synagogue. They would hold services in their homes and rent facilities like the former Lafayette Hall for larger services on holy days.

In 1909, a group of businessmen, mostly shop owners, pooled funds to purchase a house at 97 Dalby Street to serve as the synagogue for the community. By 1911, the Jewish community in Nonantum formally established the Congregation Agudas Achim Anshei Sfard, and in the following year they had collected enough money to build their own synagogue at 168 Adams Street; services began there in late 1912.

But the building was all the congregation had. Worshippers had to bring their own chairs from home to services at the synagogue, and within a few years they were able to acquire used school desks from Wellesley College, one of which is still on display in the synagogue today. According to the synagogue's website, “the shul’s present seating was acquired in 1956 from Congregation Kehillat Israel in Brookline.” It was 1924 before they were able to hire Samuel Katz to build the Holy Ark and the bimah for the synagogue.

For much of the mid-twentieth century, however, the synagogue was not used much. The second and third generation descendants of Nonantum’s earlier Jewish immigrants had moved out of the neighborhood, and weekly services were suspended for several decades. The building fell into a state of disrepair.

In the late 1980s, though, members of the community rallied and funds were raised to restore the building. Currently, the Adams Street Synagogue holds weekly services and is once again the center of the Jewish community in Nonantum. Faith and a strong sense of community have built and sustained the Congregation Agudas Achim Anshei Sfard for 100 years, and they have many good years to look forward to.