Kolbo Fine Judaica Gallery

I love the museums in Boston but this store is better than a museum. Here you can touch the art; you can buy the art; you can ask someone about the art and they’ll be smart and kind and generous of their time and patience. And Kolbo has lots of beautiful artifacts that many museums don’t have. Put aside time for this store; you’ll need it. Can I give SIX stars?

You have to be very careful here… at Kolbo you will find many of the same items priced 20 – 30 $ higher if you don’t know which one to choose. The have many nice things at tourist trap prices. The holiday candles are so high they have dust on them from years of nobody buying them. Hunt and you will find good buys.

I *love* Kolbo – such a wonderful resource for the community. They manage to have an impressive selection of unique Judaica – and yet lay it out such that it makes for a lovely browsing experience as well. Their staff provides some of the best customer service I’ve *ever* encountered. During my last shopping experience, they not only made gift suggestions based upon the occasion I was shopping for, but also gift wrapped it with a beautiful blue bow, held my baby while I paid, and offered me up some quality content suggestions for the greeting card I’d purchased upon request! (Note: I don’t usually impose upon folks in this way, but the staff is so great, the place feels like you’re with family.)
Street parking can be a pain in the tuchus though… prepare to scout around a bit for a free metered space. There’s some metered parking behind The Israel Book Shop if you can’t find anything on the street.

My son had received a gorgeous wooden menorah from Kolbo for his BM 7 years ago. I only ever displayed it because I was afraid of not being able to clean off the wax. This year we decided to use it and after Chanukah I called the store to ask how I should properly clean it. Your staff person was incredibly helpful! Not only did he find us in your database to determine that you still sell this menorah. But he called the artist to find out the recommended method of cleaning the menorah and called me back. And if that weren’t enough, he dropped me a note with further information on the menorah, which I saved. Unfortunately, I didn’t save his handwritten note, so I can’t remember his name. I was able to get the wax off quite nicely! I wish I could remember his name, but you probably can figure it out… But I just wanted you to know that I was incredibly impressed with his level of customer service. My husband and I have always loved Kolbo and it’s our go-​to store for any Judaica. But this was above and beyond and it was greatly appreciated.

Kolbo is a destination shop for modern artistic Judaica. They do a lot of wedding business in addition to selling ketubahs and wedding gifts; they rent chuppas and arranging various service providers. Given how beautiful and inspirational the store is, it is amazing how badly they treat customers. They were rude when I asked why they don’t label the menorahs that are kosher or not kosher (some of their designers are artistic but not religious, so the candles aren’t arranged properly). My friend had been so proud of her Kolbo menorah until her children found out publicly, in Hebrew School, that their menorah wan’t kosher. Kolbo staff wouldn’t open their door at 9:55am to a family (opening time was 10am) who had a list of books to buy. A big inconvenience for customers is that returned items get a store credit only, not cash back or a credit to the chargecard used. I shop in Kolbo when I have to, for the merchandise. Often I regret the experience.

My go-​to place for Bat/​Bar Mitzvah gifts, Shabbat or Holiday necessities or to remind my mother that I am embracing my Judaism by possessing beautiful Judaic items. They really have a great selection– reasonable price, and very modern. The staff is friendly, the have great gift boxes and ribbons that make buying a gift super easy, and I just really enjoyed looking around at all of the really beautiful items they have in their store.

Great place to buy anything Jewish related. Found the staff to be very friendly and easy to deal with. They have some amazing pieces in their store. While the prices are a bit high on some items, I was happy to pay them because of the care and quality that is put into the workmanship of the items.
I think Unilocal said it best, «Yay! I’m a fan»

Lovely handmade items, helpful staff. Items are perhaps a tad overpriced but it is a lovely place to shop and browse. Many artisan items as well as more traditional Judaica. Explanatory labels for those who don’t know the difference between Miriam’s and Elijah’s cups, for example. Helpful supportive staff, enjoyable atmosphere.

We purchased our wedding Ketubah (Jewish marriage certificate) from Kolbo Fine Judaica. We perused websites to find the one we wanted, then looked at most of them in-​person at Kolbo. They didn’t have the particular one we wanted, but were happy to order it.
We also purchased the «breaking glass» from Kolbo and received a few wedding gifts from there.
Some of their stuff does tend to be on the pricier side, but that’s because it’s handmade by artists. Price-​wise, it’s the same as any comparable store that sells handmade artistry work.
Plus, we like that we’re supporting a local store, rather than purchasing our items from a large website.
The employees are friendly and very knowledgeable.

The selection is beautiful but the customer service is really not great. I have bought things here a few times, most recently a ketubah for our wedding. The gentleman who «welcomed» us was pretty rude, among other things he asked us not to pick up the ketubah samples (set on cardboard, covered in plastic, essentially like flipping through posters) but said if we wanted to look closer at them he would stand with us and pick them up for us so we didn’t «mess them up.» They also got our order wrong. This wasn’t totally their fault but we dealt with the owner to correct it and it was much more of a pain than it should have been, especially considering it cost $ 200.
If only they would be nice!

I love to come in here and browse. Aside from the usual Judaica that you might expect to find in such a shop such as menorahs, mezuzahs, ketubahs, etc. they have a great selection of jewelry some of which is not of a religious nature but just made in Israel. Last time I was in here I saw some beautiful Roman glass pieces. They also have an assortment of books on various Jewish topics. When I am in the area I always make a point of stopping in and checking out the jewelry.

Most places in the area are closed Easter, so I called Kolbo Judaica to see if they had hours today. (They don’t exactly celebrate Easter, so they were indeed open.) We decided to get my nephew a religious item for his Bar Mitzvah rather than just handing him a check that would go into a general fund and merit a perfunctory thank you (like, «Thank you for the generous gift, which will be put to good use, especially when I head to college and start making my way to every bar in town. Just don’t tell my parents.»)
This Judaica shop has everything you could possibly imagine: special glasses and cups, Jewish wedding contracts, unique artwork, Sabbath items, Passover articles, Israeli boxes and jewelry, prayer shawls, books, candy… everything kosher. Everyone was extremely helpful and kind, taking the time to explain the nuances of different objects. We found what we were looking for and were on our way after about a half hour. Fun to browse this store, and none of the prices seem out of line.
Parking can be difficult, which is why I deducted 1 star.

we ordered our ketubah (jewish wedding contract) here and could not have been more pleased with the customer service. they took their time to explain the different options we had (we didn’t really understand everything since we aren’t religious) and their selection is great also. they also recommended a local calligrapher who was already familiar with their pieces, and she was very easy to work with as well.
beautiful, unique jewelry and other judaica items also (menorahs, mezuzahs, seder plates, etc.).