Congregation Beth Israel (Malden, Massachusetts)

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Congregation Beth Israel is an Orthodox Jewish synagogue located at 10 Dexter Street in Malden, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1904 by Lithuanian Jewish immigrants and was originally called Beth Israel Anshe Litte, meaning “House of Israel, people of Lithuania.”

The congregation’s first home was a former Methodist church on Lombard Court. Its first rabbi, Dov Ber Boruchoff, served from 1906 to 1939. A later longtime leader, Charles Weinberg, became a national figure in Orthodoxy and led the Rabbinical Council of America from 1960 to 1962.

In 1993, the synagogue faced threats from a neo-Nazi group after a cemetery desecration in the area.

Rabbi Yitzchak Zev Rabinowitz joined in 1997 and has been the synagogue’s rabbi since then, becoming its second-longest-serving leader. He trained at several renowned yeshivas before joining Beth Israel. Beginning around 2000, the synagogue launched efforts to reverse the community’s decline, including offering low-interest loans to Orthodox families moving to Malden, advertising these loans nationally, and establishing Malden’s eruv. The congregation also provides scholarships for students attending religious schools. Part of its financial foundation comes from a large stock donation by Morton Ruderman, cofounder of MEDITECH, which helped fund its programs.

In 2011 the synagogue began building a mikveh for women in the Greater Boston Jewish community; it was completed and is in use. By 2012 Beth Israel had about 100 member families and held services three times daily. As of 2025, the rabbi remains Yitzchak Zev Rabinowitz.

Norman Greenbaum, the singer who wrote the song “Spirit in the Sky,” attended Beth Israel as a child.