Temple Beth Shalom is a warm and welcoming Jewish community based in Melrose, Massachusetts. We take pride in the fact that people who join our temple have told us they found a "home" at the congregation. We believe that the main purpose of  a congregation is to provide a home for its members.

We work hard to create a spiritual home through the beauty of the Jewish religion, a community home through the many ways we try to connect people with each other, a fulfilling home through our many efforts over the years to support Melrose and its institutions via our social action and larger community outreach efforts.

Our History

More than half a century ago, Temple Beth Shalom began as a very small community of immigrant families. These families emigrated to America and moved to this area to build new lives. The men went off to work in various industries and places around greater Boston. The women began to establish homes and get to know the neighbors. As they did, the idea of a establishing a small Jewish community was proposed.  Soon, these women (and later the men as well) began to meet in each others homes. As they group grew, they started meeting in borrowed or rented space in various places around Melrose. Around 1950, they incorporated as the Melrose Jewish Community Center.

This group of pioneering women and their men got together to purchase the "Oak Manor" near the downtown Melrose area. Oak Manor was one of the main dance halls in Melrose.  After some fixing up and the construction of a bimah and Holy Ark, Temple Beth Shalom was established. Our first President was Dorothy Diamond.