Mission
Temple Emmanuel is a place not only for services, but also for communal assembly and education about our culture and religion. We welcome and honor Jewish and interfaith persons of diverse backgrounds, ages, denominations, abilities, sexual orientations and gender identities. Our purpose is to serve as a focal point for congregants’ social, intellectual, and spiritual needs.
Toward this end we combine traditional and progressive practices to create an informal, egalitarian, and heimish environment (Yiddish for comfortable, like home). Our synagogue leaders encourage congregants to share insights and ideas that can help us adapt and thrive. Our Rabbi inspires us to participate actively in services that blend Hebrew and English texts with choral and instrumental music. Our committees develop social events and activities that celebrate Jewish culture, ideas, food, and community.
Our highly distinctive building has an array of handcrafted Federalist and Romanesque architectural elements and offers universal accessibility to a newly renovated sanctuary, bathrooms, and social hall with a fully equipped chef’s kitchen. For Chelsea’s Jewish diaspora and their progeny, Temple Emmanuel, formed in the 1930s as an alternative to the local Orthodox synagogues, has become a beacon of continuity, preserving priceless memories from one generation to the next while adapting to the needs of our congregants and community.