USA: Montefiore Synagogue in Lowell, Massachusetts Closes; ISJM Documents Interior Before Building is Sold

Lowell, MA. Montefiore Synagogue. Howard Associates, 1972. Photo: Samuel Gruber 2019.

Lowell, MA. Montefiore Synagogue. Howard Associates, 1972. Photo: Samuel Gruber 2019.

Lowell, MA. Montefiore Synagogue. Howard Associates, 1972. Photo: Samuel Gruber 2019.

Lowell, MA. Montefiore Synagogue. Howard Associates, 1972. Photo: Samuel Gruber 2019.

USA: Montefiore Synagogue in Lowell, Massachusetts Closes; ISJM Documents Interior Before Building is Sold

by Samuel D. Gruber

After nearly a half century, the Montefiore Synagogue in Lowell, Massachusetts has closed. The mid-century modern synagogue opened in 1972 after the 1968 merger of the Orthodox Anshe Sfard Synagogue and the Montefiore Society Synagogue. On a quick visit to Massachusetts last fall I managed a stop in Lowell where congregation members allowed me to photograph the synagogue and its art before all the items were dispersed and the building sold.

I have found little about the architecture, but the architectural presentation drawing is signed by Howard Associates. The design is typical of the time, but in its compactness of plan and in its materials, it more closely resembles synagogues of the 1950s than the more expressive synagogues of the late 1960s. The  sanctuary is built of wood. Large wood laminate arches carry the roof, and there is fine wood paneling all around the room. If any reader knows more about Howard Associates please let me know.

There was once a small courtyard that gave access to classrooms, chapels and other spaces, but this was later enclosed.

Lowell, MA. Montefiore Synagogue. The presentation drawing, Howard Associates. Photo: Samuel Gruber 2019.

Lowell, MA. Montefiore Synagogue. The presentation drawing was used extensively in the fund raising for the new synagogues.

Lowell, MA. Montefiore Synagogue. Howard Associates, 1972. Photo: Samuel Gruber 2019.

Lowell, MA. Montefiore Synagogue. Howard Associates, 1972. Photo: Samuel Gruber 2019.

Lowell, MA. Montefiore Synagogue. Enclosed courtyard. Photo: Samuel Gruber 2019.

The origin story of the new synagogue fits nicely-and sadly-into the history of mid-20th century American synagogue construction, and in the saga of American "urban renewal". The older buildings of the two merging congregations on Howard Street were demolished as part of the nationwide clearing of older neighborhoods in the late 1960s and early 1970s, a practice that saw the destruction of old Jewish neighborhoods in dozens of towns an cities across the industrialized North. Then, there was even more destruction when the Highland Congregational Church was torn down to allow the newly merged congregation a place to rebuild. I have not found any interior pictures of the 1907 Montefiore synagogue, and I wonder if it had any wall paintings, similar to those that we can see in a preserved interior of the old Anshe Sfrad. 

Lowell, Massachusetts. The former Montefiore Synagogue on Howard Street, built in 1907, was taken by the Urban Development Agency by imminent domain and demolished.

Lowell, Massachusetts. The former Anshe Sfard Synagogue on Howard Street was taken by the Urban Development Agency by imminent domain and demolished.

Lowell, Massachusetts. Interior view of former Anshe Sfard Synagogue on Howard Street. note the painted lions on the Ark wall.

Demolition in March 1970 of the Highland Congregation Church,  to make way for the new Montefiore synagogue.

In the fall of 2019 the congregation was seeking to find new homes for the synaoggue's art and furnishings Apparently that is still the case. Information on the arks and other items can be found at a webpage of Maavar, a program of the Synagogue Council of Massachusetts here. My understanding is that for legal reasons all items must be sold - not donated - but that all offers will be considered.

Maavar offers services to congregations that are closing, merging, expanding, or facing other major changes. The organization helped find new homes for sacred objects from Congregation Tifereth Israel in Revere, including the carved 1916 Ark that was moved to and rededicated in the the Beit Midrash Chapel at Shir Tikva, Wayland.

Lowell, MA. Montefiore Synagogue. Howard Associates, 1972. Photo: Samuel Gruber 2019.

Lowell, MA. Montefiore Synagogue. Howard Associates, 1972. Photo: Samuel Gruber 2019.

Lowell, MA. Montefiore Synagogue. Howard Associates, 1972. Photo: Samuel Gruber 2019.

Lowell, MA. Montefiore Synagogue. Howard Associates, 1972. Photo: Samuel Gruber 2019.

Better known than Howard Associates is the versatile Lexington-based artist David Holleman (b. 1927), who designed arks in both the main sanctuary and the Anshe Sfard chapel, the accompanying mosaics and parochets, and the stained glass skylight in the chapel. He probably also designed the impressive metalwork menorah on the building exterior, and the  Decalogue and Eternal Light over the sanctuary Ark. Holleman also created a large series of mosaic panels of the Tribes of Israel that also commemorate donors. These are all impressive, beautiful, and finely made works. Their future is uncertain.

Lowell, MA. Montefiore Synagogue. Main Sanctuary. Ark and parochet by David Holleman, 1972. Photo: Samuel Gruber 2019.

Lowell, MA. Montefiore Synagogue. Main Sanctuary. Ark and parochet by David Holleman, 1972. Photo: Samuel Gruber 2019.

Lowell, MA. Montefiore Synagogue. Howard Associates, 1972. Photo: Samuel Gruber 2019.

Lowell, MA. Montefiore Synagogue. Howard Associates, 1972. Photo: Samuel Gruber 2019.

In addition to his work for the Montefiore Synagogue, Holleman has created artwork for over 40  synagogues, including Temple Beth El in Quincy, Temple Beth Am in Randolph, Temple Reyim in Newton, Kehillath Israel in Brookline, Temple Beth El in Lowell and Temple Beth Am in Framingham. He has also done work in synagogues in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Manchester, NH, Skokie, IL and Cincinnati, OH.

The series of large stained glass windows which Holleman made for a chapel at Temple Beth El in Quincy, Massachusetts were donated in 2015 to the museum at Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati after the Temple merged with Temple Shalom in Milton the previous year.

Holleman also created a large series of stained glass windows for the Jewish Home for the Elderly in Fairfield, CT, which I photographed a few years ago and will post as a separate item on this blog.

Holleman has created many secular murals, too, including for the Museum of Science in Boston, Stonehill College and Boston College, as well as two large works in the Bronx, NY;  for the  Harry Truman High School and at the Northeast Bronx Educational Park. 

Lowell, MA. Montefiore Synagogue. Chapel skylight by David Holleman, 1972. Photo: Samuel Gruber 2019.

Lowell, MA. Montefiore Synagogue. Chapel. Ark and parochet by David Holleman, 1972. Photo: Samuel Gruber 2019.

Lowell, MA. Montefiore Synagogue. Chapel. Ark by David Holleman, 1972. Photo: Samuel Gruber 2019.

Lowell, MA. Montefiore Synagogue. Chapel. Ark by David Holleman, 1972. Photo: Samuel Gruber 2019.

Lowell, MA. Montefiore Synagogue. Chapel. Ark and parochet by David Holleman, 1972. Photo: Samuel Gruber 2019.

Lowell, MA. Montefiore Synagogue. Chapel by David Holleman, 1972. Photo: Samuel Gruber 2019.

Near the entrance to the synagogue, Holleman also helped create a donor wall, which thanks the benefactors to the Temple in a series of mosaic panels depicting Jacob's Dream in the center, surrounded by panels depicting the Twelve Tribes of Israel.

David Holleman. Jacob's Dream (angels ascending ladder). Photo: Samuel Gruber 2019.

Lowell, Ma. Montefiore Synagogue. Tribes of Israel. David Holleman, artist. Photo: Samuel Gruber 2019.

Lowell, Ma. Montefiore Synagogue. Tribes of Israel. David Holleman, artist. Photo: Samuel Gruber 2019.

Lowell, Ma. Montefiore Synagogue. Tribes of Israel. David Holleman, artist. Photo: Samuel Gruber 2019.

Lowell, Ma. Montefiore Synagogue. Tribes of Israel. David Holleman, artist. Photo: Samuel Gruber 2019.

Lowell, Ma. Montefiore Synagogue. Tribes of Israel. David Holleman, artist. Photo: Samuel Gruber 2019.

Lowell, Ma. Montefiore Synagogue. Tribes of Israel. David Holleman, artist. Photo: Samuel Gruber 2019.

Lowell, Ma. Montefiore Synagogue. Tribes of Israel. David Holleman, artist. Photo: Samuel Gruber 2019.

Lowell, Ma. Montefiore Synagogue. Tribes of Israel. David Holleman, artist. Photo: Samuel Gruber 2019.

Lowell, Ma. Montefiore Synagogue. Tribes of Israel. David Holleman, artist. Photo: Samuel Gruber 2019.

Lowell, Ma. Montefiore Synagogue. Tribes of Israel. David Holleman, artist. Photo: Samuel Gruber 2019.

Lowell, Ma. Montefiore Synagogue. Tribes of Israel. David Holleman, artist. Photo: Samuel Gruber 2019.

Lowell, Ma. Montefiore Synagogue. Tribes of Israel. David Holleman, artist. Photo: Samuel Gruber 2019.