About The Temple

     Temple Tifereth Israel of Winthrop is an unaffiliated Jewish congregation. We provide a welcoming and relaxed atmosphere for our congregants and visitors. The Congregation is committed to preserving Jewish values and traditions.
     The Temple is located just north of Boston and is adjacent to East Boston, Logan Airport, Revere, and Chelsea. Winthrop has a population of approximately 20,000, is largely residential and is a peninsula with the Atlantic Ocean to the East and Boston Harbor to the West.
     Public transportation provides convenient low cost access to Boston, while road access to Boston, points west and south is provided by 3 tunnels below Boston Harbor. Points north of Boston, including New Hampshire and Maine, are easily reached by highways adjacent to Winthrop.

PRESIDENT: Sandra (Goldstein) Pellegrino
VICE PRESIDENTS: Dana Stone, Steven Miller
TREASURER: Dana Stone

In the first verses of Bereshit, we read that “there was evening and morning, the first day.” The rabbis reasoned that if the Torah said that the first day began with evening, that must have been God’s intention. So late Friday afternoon, in Jewish homes around the world, candles are lit, blessings are said and Shabbat is welcomed. And in synagogues, the Friday Ma’ariv (evening) service begins with Kabbalat Shabbat - Welcoming the Sabbath.

Shabbat is a time of joy, and the six Psalms that make up the bulk of the Kabbalat Shabbat are celebratory, corresponding to the six days of creation; but it is Lecha Dodi that many feel is the true centerpiece of this portion of the Shabbat evening service.

On Friday nights in the 16th century, in the small town of Safed in the mountains of Galilee in northern Israel, the Jewish mystics who lived and studied there would dress in white like bridegrooms and joyously dance and march through the fields outside town to greet the Sabbath, which is depicted in both Talmud and in mystical texts as a bride and queen. Around 1540, a poet composed the beautiful ode to the Sabbath Bride, Lecha Dodi, urging Jews to greet the Sabbath and extolling her virtues. Today, it is recited or sung in virtually every synagogue in the world as the Sabbath is ushered in.

Following the Ma’ariv service Kiddush is recited, and those gathered have a sip of wine, a piece of challah, refreshments and the chance to share a relaxing moment with others before heading home.

Why not end your work-week at Temple Tifereth Israel at one of its Friday night Kabbalt Shabbat get-togethers like that shown above? Check with Temple to find out when the next Kabbalat Shabbat will take place. Like your mother might have said to you, “Try it, you’ll like it!”