The Brodsky Synagogue in Odesa was built by the Jews from

Brody Brody ( uk, Броди; russian: Броды, Brodï; pl, Brody; german: Brody; yi, בראָד, Brod) is a city in Zolochiv Raion of Lviv Oblast (province) of western Ukraine. It is located in the valley of the upper Styr River, approximately ...

in 1863 in

Odesa Odesa (also spelled Odessa) is the third most populous city and municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea. The city is also the administrative ...

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

. It was the largest synagogue in the south of the then

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

. People came from all over the world to hear

cantor A cantor or chanter is a person who leads people in singing or sometimes in prayer. In formal Jewish worship, a cantor is a person who sings solo verses or passages to which the choir or congregation responds. In Judaism, a cantor sings and lead ...

s sing there.

History

Early 1800s

In the early 1800s, Jewish immigrants began to stream into Odesa from Europe, many of them coming from the town of

in western Ukraine. In the 1840s, the Brody Jews leased their first synagogue, at the corner of Pushkin and Postal (now Zhukovsky) streets in a relatively small house from the wealthy Greek businessman Ksenysu. The Cantor was Rabbi Nissan Blumenthal, who had also come from the town of Brody. The reformation of synagogues was also one of the priorities of

Maskilim The ''Haskalah'', often termed Jewish Enlightenment ( he, השכלה; literally, "wisdom", "erudition" or "education"), was an intellectual movement among the Jews of Central and Eastern Europe, with a certain influence on those in Western Euro ...

in the city, the Brodsky Synagogue, soon become a model for Jewish prayer in the region. The older Glavaina synagogue, formerly known as Beit Knesset Ha Gadol established in 1795 and located in main arteries of the city, was transformed on the lines of Brody Synagogue. One of the documents from the Office of Novorossiysk and Bessarabian Governor-General, dated 1852, states: "All the educated people of the Jewish community in Odesa are going there. Their school leases a house, but it is deliberately arranged. The hall is quite extensive, there is also a gallery for the women…”

The new synagogue

In 1860, they received permission to begin building a new synagogue. It was designed by the famous architect Joseph N. Kollovich in the Gothic Florentine style, built with local

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

, and completed in 1863. It was the largest synagogue in the south of the then Russian empire. Many famous composers and singers performed in the synagogue. Among them the composer Novakovsky, and Cantor

Pinhas Minkowsky Pinhas Minkowsky (; April 5, 1859 – January 18, 1924) was a Russian ''hazzan'' and composer. Biography Phinehas Minkovsky was born in Bila Tserkva in April 1859. His father, Mordecai, a descendant of Yom-Tov Lipmann Heller, was cantor in the c ...

. The synagogue is mentioned in writings of

Isaac Babel Isaac Emmanuilovich Babel (russian: Исаак Эммануилович Бабель, p=ˈbabʲɪlʲ; – 27 January 1940) was a Russian writer, journalist, playwright, and literary translator. He is best known as the author of ''Red Cavalry'' ...

Sholem Aleichem ) , birth_date = , birth_place = Pereiaslav, Russian Empire , death_date = , death_place = New York City, U.S. , occupation = Writer , nationality = , period = , genre = Novels, sh ...

, and

Ivan Bunin Ivan Alekseyevich Bunin ( or ; rus, Ива́н Алексе́евич Бу́нин, p=ɪˈvan ɐlʲɪˈksʲejɪvʲɪtɕ ˈbunʲɪn, a=Ivan Alyeksyeyevich Bunin.ru.vorb.oga; – 8 November 1953) was the first Russian writer awarded the ...

(the first Russian writer to win the

Nobel Prize for Literature ) , image = Nobel Prize.png , caption = , awarded_for = Outstanding contributions in literature , presenter = Swedish Academy , holder = Annie Ernaux (2022) , location = Stockholm, Sweden , year = 1901 , ...

Ze'ev Jabotinsky Ze'ev Jabotinsky ( he, זְאֵב זַ׳בּוֹטִינְסְקִי, ''Ze'ev Zhabotinski'';, ''Wolf Zhabotinski'' 17 October 1880 – 3 August 1940), born Vladimir Yevgenyevich Zhabotinsky, was a Russian Jewish Revisionist Zionist leade ...

, and

Meir Dizengoff Meir Dizengoff ( he, מֵאִיר דִּיזֶנְגּוֹף, russian: Меер Янкелевич Дизенгоф ''Meer Yankelevich Dizengof'', 25 February 1861 – 23 September 1936) was a Zionist leader and politician and the founder and fir ...

, former Mayor of

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the G ...

, are among the many Jews associated with this synagogue. Odesa at one point boasted the second-largest Jewish population (after

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

), according to

YIVO YIVO (Yiddish: , ) is an organization that preserves, studies, and teaches the cultural history of Jewish life throughout Eastern Europe, Germany, and Russia as well as orthography, lexicography, and other studies related to Yiddish. (The word '' ...

. In 1897, Jews made up 34.6% of the city's population.

Synagogue in the Soviet era

In 1920, all the synagogues in Odesa were taken away from the Jewish community. The Brodsky Synagogue was transformed into the “Rosa Luxemburg Workers Club”, as recorded in YIVO archives, which was a meeting place to push socialist propaganda. The Ten Commandments over the synagogue's

ark Ark or ARK may refer to: Biblical narratives and religion Hebrew word ''teva'' * Noah's Ark, a massive vessel said to have been built to save the world's animals from a flood * Ark of bulrushes, the boat of the infant Moses Hebrew ''aron'' * ...

were covered with a photo of Vladimir Lenin.

During WWII

In 1939, the Jewish population had numbered 80,000 to 90,000, but by 1945 only 5,000 remained. During the war,

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

requested Romanian leader

Ion Antonescu Ion Antonescu (; ; – 1 June 1946) was a Romanian military officer and marshal who presided over two successive wartime dictatorships as Prime Minister and ''Conducător'' during most of World War II. A Romanian Army career officer who made ...

to occupy the Ukrainian territory between

Dniester The Dniester, ; rus, Дне́стр, links=1, Dnéstr, ˈdⁿʲestr; ro, Nistru; grc, Τύρᾱς, Tyrās, ; la, Tyrās, la, Danaster, label=none, ) ( ,) is a transboundary river in Eastern Europe. It runs first through Ukraine and th ...

and

Bug River uk, Західний Буг be, Захо́дні Буг , name_etymology = , image = Wyszkow_Bug.jpg , image_size = 250 , image_caption = Bug River in the vicinity of Wyszków, Poland , map = Vi ...

s. In those days, the Odesa Oblast State Archive was located in the basement of the Uspensky cathedral. The Romanians moved the archive into the Brodsky Synagogue.

Today

Local and national landmark

In August 1985, the

Odesa Oblast Council The Odesa Oblast Council ( uk, Одеська обласна рада) is the regional oblast council (parliament) of the Odesa Oblast located in Southern Ukraine. Council members are elected for five year terms. In order to gain representation ...

established the Brodsky Synagogue as a monument of local importance. In June 2006, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Ukraine included the building in the State Register of Monuments of Ukraine. Today, the building is on the verge of collapse. It has not been renovated for many years. The walls are being held by the bookshelves inside.

Restoration

As of February 2016, the Brodsky Synagogue has been returned to the Jewish Community of Odesa. The decision was reached by a decisive majority of the regional council who voted to transfer the building taken from its community nearly 100 years ago. The building, once restored, will house the Chabad Lubavitch Congregation and the Odesa Jewish Museum and Tolerance Center.

References

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External links

*http://timer-odessa.net/statji/Ta_Odessa__Brodskaya_sinagoga_v_ocheredi_na_unic.html *http://www.odessaguide.net/sights_brodskasynagogue.ru.html *http://www.holst.od.ua/odessa/photos.php?p_id=161 Religious buildings and structures in Odesa Proposed museums Orthodox synagogues in Ukraine Synagogues completed in 1863 Gothic Revival synagogues Jews and Judaism in Odesa Gothic Revival architecture in Ukraine