Lexington (Mass.)

The Lexington Jewish Leisure Group was formed in 1972 by members of Lexington’s Temple Emunah and Temple Isaiah to serve as a social group for older and retired Jewish people. After the Group affiliated with the Golden Age Council, a service of the Associated Jewish Community Centers, in 1972, it would also hold meetings at Belmont’s Temple Beth-El. The Leisure Group organized outings and activities for the Jewish senior citizens of the area.

At the time these photographs were taken in 1981 and 1985, Steven Kellerman was a machinist with an interest in synagogue history. This particular collection of photographs started with Kellerman’s visits to former synagogues in Dorchester and Roxbury, Massachusetts; the project expanded to include most of Massachusetts and other states.

Temple B'nai Jacob was an Orthodox synagogue on Sylvia Street in Lexington, Massachusetts. Their first service was held on Passover in1916. Although this congregation is no longer operational, two synagogues in Lexington—Temple Emunah (Conservative) and Temple Isaiah (Reform)—have their roots in Temple B'nai Jacob. This collection contains one financial ledger in English and Yiddish.