A symbol of rebirth, rejuvenation

New Torah marks turnaround for synagogue in Newton

Eyal Cohen carried a Torah as he exited the Adams Street Synagogue in Newton to welcome the new Torah yesterday. The synagogue's other Torahs had been secondhand. (Yoon S. Byun/Globe Staff)

NEWTON - Two decades ago, the city's oldest synagogue was on the verge of locking its doors and becoming a museum.

Membership in the nearly century-old Congregation Agudas Achim Anshei Sfard, more commonly known as the Adams Street Synagogue, had dwindled to about 15 people and services were held only on holidays.

"Twenty years ago this synagogue was decrepit," said Nechama Cheses, a lifelong member of the synagogue and a Newton resident. "There were no services left."

But the two-story brick synagogue is flourishing now with nearly 100 members, and yesterday afternoon about 60 of them gathered in a joyous ceremony to welcome a sign of its rejuvenation: a brand-new Torah.

Three Torahs, which the congregation had used for decades, wrapped in dark red velvet were removed from a compartment in a majestic wooden arch at the front of the synagogue. The Torahs were carried by three of the synagogue's leaders under a chuppa, a canopy used in Jewish weddings, outside into the street, which had been cordoned off.

Synagogue members filtered out behind Ronny Drapkin, president of the synagogue, Steve Cantor, vice president, and Aryeh Cheses, chairman of the ritual committee, as they carried the scrolls out to meet the new Torah.

"This is a wonderful event and just like a wedding," Melanie Katz of Newton said as she watched women clasp hands and dance in a circle in the street performing the hora. "This really shows the thread of tradition over the years."

The Newton South African Shul Choir, a group of eight men from South Africa and Boston, sang wedding songs as the new Torah was carried with the three old ones back into the synagogue and placed in the arch.

The synagogue was founded in 1912 by Orthodox Russian Jews from Kiev who immigrated to the United States in the early 1900s, and initially hosted about 50 members. In the 1930s, some members moved to Roxbury and Dorchester, popular Jewish neighborhoods at the time, and membership steadily decreased.

By the 1980s, the structure was badly in need of repairs and had no telephone line or air conditioning. Tucked between homes in a residential area, the synagogue had no sign and was difficult to spot.

But after the synagogue was featured in an exhibit of Jewish history in Newton in the 1990s, membership increased.

"People began to know we existed, and that was a critical factor in the rejuvenation of the synagogue," said Beri Gilfix, past president of the synagogue. "It really put us on the map and people became more aware we were here."

Gilfix said the structure had not been touched since its initial construction because members wanted to preserve its historical character. But after receiving funding following the exhibit, synagogue leaders decided to repair the peeling paint and brickwork, fixing the roof and updating the turn-of-the-century plumbing. A phone line and air conditioning were installed and a sign placed on the front lawn, detailing hours and service dates.

Gilfix said the growth that followed was slow and steady. "Now it's a lot of young families," she said. "And to us, that's the future."

But despite the synagogue's recent surge in membership, Gilfix said, it has retained its closeness.

"It's very small inside and feels intimate, because everybody knows everyone else," she said. "That intimacy is something unique, and we have preserved that sense of knowing everyone in the group."

Drapkin said the acquisition of the new Torah symbolizes the increase in membership and interest in the community.

"This is something that will hopefully influence more new people to come here," said Drapkin, of Newton.

The old Torahs the synagogue had used were secondhand; the one dedicated yesterday is its first new one. The Torah was donated in June by an anonymous member of the congregation, in memory of his late wife. The donor requested the last 98 letters remain incomplete, allowing the synagogue's approximately 98 members to complete the Torah in fulfillment of one of the 613 Jewish commandments.

Gilfix said Jews are required to read the Torah, and, before the invention of the printing press made copies readily available, people had to write their own in order to fulfill the commandment. The custom of members each writing one letter in a synagogue's new Torah is a legacy from that time.

"It became a custom that if you complete one letter it is as if you did the whole thing," she said.

The new Adams Street Torah was handwritten, as dictated by Jewish law. The Torah was crafted and inscribed in Israel.

On Sept. 14, people clapped and sang songs in Hebrew as members completed the Torah.

"This is a great experience and will be the first time in some people's lives they write a Torah," said Norbert Weinberg, the synagogue's rabbi.

Cantor and his wife, Zhanna, of Newton, watched intently as the sofer, a Jewish scribe, dipped his feather pen in ink and delicately filled in the remaining letters last week.

"This is a very meaningful experience and brings the words to life," Steve Cantor said. "You can watch it come into shape before you and it was written with the community together."

The synagogue now holds Sabbath services every week in addition to holiday services.

"This will hopefully bring people together and influence them to become involved with the shul and community spirit," Cheses said. "This Torah is a symbol of growth over time and the synagogue has become part of that."