Final Project Part 1: The Vilna Shul

The Vilna Shul (shul is the Yiddish word for synagogue) at 18 Philips Street in Beacon Hill is the second synagogue of the Anshei Vilner (the People of Vilnius), a community of Jewish immigrants from Vilnius, Lithuania. The Anshei Vilner congregation began in 1893, gathering to pray in the homes of its members until the congregation purchased the Twelfth Baptist Church in 1906, adapting the building into a synagogue. After selling the first synagogue building to the city of Boston in 1916, the congregation began building the synagogue that is currently the Vilna Shul in 1919. The shul was active until 1985, and now the Vilna Shul serves as a cultural center for the Boston Jewish community and a historical site for all.

The Vilna Shul as it stands today contains valuable information about the Jewish traditions of Eastern Europe, the culture of Eastern European immigrants in Boston, and Boston history in general. The congregants painted murals on the walls of the sanctuary, and the walls in the sanctuary are currently being restored so that the murals will be visible. Painting murals on sanctuary walls was a common cultural practice in Eastern Europe. As many historical synagogues in Europe were destroyed, especially during World War II, the restored murals on the walls of the Vilna Shul will be a rare and important example of Eastern European folk art. Many artifacts in the shul shed light on the Eastern European immigrant experience. For example, the shul’s ark, the holy cabinet that holds Torah scrolls, is decorated in a Baroque style that was popular in New England at the time. These decorations show the congregants’ for their new community. The shul also holds original pews from the Twelfth Baptist Church, a nineteenth-century church with many formerly enslaved, self-emancipated people in the congregation (National Park Service, 2016). These pews hold historical value for those interested in the Vilna Shul as well as the Twelfth Baptist Church. The historical significance of the Vilna Shul is relevant to multiple communities, and to everyone interested in the history of Boston.

The shul does not have an official mission statement, but the closest thing to a mission statement is probably this: “We are a cultural center, a place where the history of Boston's Jews can be shared and enjoyed by everyone and where Boston Jewish life thrives once again” (Vilna Shul, 2016). The shul is currently open to the public and runs a variety of programs, events, and exhibits.

All historical information from:

Vilna Shul (2016). Our Rich History. Retrieved from http://vilnashul.com/about/our_history

National Park Service (2016). African American Churches of Beacon Hill. Retrieved from http://www.nps.gov/boaf/learn/historyculture/churches.htm