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July 18, 2008
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1. Rabbi's Message
2. History of the Congregation
3. About Malden

A History of the Congregation Beth Israel, Malden

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The Beginning

The year was 1904, and Cy Young pitched the American League's first perfect game for the Boston Red Sox, beating the Philadelphia Athletics, 3-0.

The Russo-Japanese War began as Japanese forces attacked Port Arthur, and the curtain came down on the very first performance of "Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up" at the Duke of York's Theater in London.

It was also the year Congregation Beth Israel was founded in Malden to provide a spiritual home for new immigrants from Lithuania. To this day, the official name of the congregation is still Beth Israel Anshe Litte ("people of Lithuania").

Another synagogue had already been established in Malden to serve Jewish immigrants from southern Russia, who had their own style of davening. But now Jews arriving from Lithuania wanted a place of their own.


The Faulkner Street Shul

The congregation's first home was in two small rooms on Lombard Court. In 1905, the members purchased a former Methodist church and converted it into a synagogue.

On their first day in the new building, the small band of congregants -- led by Meir Hershel Smith -- quickly removed the non-Jewish religious symbols and entered their new shul to welcome in the Shabbat.
From that day until the present, Beth Israel has held minyanim every morning and evening virtually without fail. Because the building was located on the corner of Faulkner Street and Eastern Avenue, the synagogue became known as the "Faulkner Street Shul".