The Brodsky Choral Synagogue ( uk, Синаго́га Бро́дського and yi, די בראדסקי שול אין קיעוו) is the second largest synagogue in
Kyiv
Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...
,
Ukraine. It was built in the
Romanesque Revival
Romanesque Revival (or Neo-Romanesque) is a Architectural style, style of building employed beginning in the mid-19th century inspired by the 11th- and 12th-century Romanesque architecture. Unlike the historic Romanesque style, Romanesque Revival ...
style resembling a classical
basilica
In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica is a large public building with multiple functions, typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek East. The building gave its name t ...
. The original tripartite facade with a large central
avant-corps
An ''avant-corps'' ( it, avancorpo or , plural , german: Risalit, pl, ryzalit), a French term literally meaning "fore-body", is a part of a building, such as a porch or pavilion, that juts out from the ''corps de logis'', often taller than othe ...
flanked by lower wings also echoed the characteristic design of some
Moorish Revival
Moorish Revival or Neo-Moorish is one of the exotic revival architectural styles that were adopted by architects of Europe and the Americas in the wake of Romanticist Orientalism. It reached the height of its popularity after the mid-19th centu ...
synagogues, such as the
Leopoldstädter Tempel
The Leopoldstädter Tempel was the largest synagogue of Vienna, in the district (Bezirk) of Leopoldstadt. It was also known as the Israelitische Bethaus in der Wiener Vorstadt Leopoldstadt. It was built in 1858 in a Moorish Revival style by the ...
in Vienna. The Chief Rabbi of Ukraine, Rabbi
Moshe Reuven Azman is the active leading rabbi of the Brodsky Synogogue.
History
The synagogue was built between 1897 and 1898. It was designed by
Georgiy Shleifer. A sugar magnate and philanthropist
Lazar Brodsky
Lazar Izrayilevich Brodsky (russian: Ла́зарь Изра́илевич Бро́дский, uk, Ла́зар Ізраїльович Бро́дський, he, אליעזר ברודסקי; – ) was a Russian Imperial businessman of Jewish ori ...
financed its construction.
[Rededicated Kyiv synagogue to serve as community center]
/ref>
For many decades, the local
Local may refer to:
Geography and transportation
* Local (train), a train serving local traffic demand
* Local, Missouri, a community in the United States
* Local government, a form of public administration, usually the lowest tier of administra ...
and imperial
Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor, or imperialism.
Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to:
Places
United States
* Imperial, California
* Imperial, Missouri
* Imperial, Nebraska
* Imperial, Pennsylvania
* Imperial, Texas
...
authorities forbade the construction of a monumental place of Jewish worship in Kyiv, as they feared that this would facilitate the growth of the Jewish community in the area, which, being a big trading and industrial city, would then become an important Jewish religious center. This was considered "undesirable" due to the symbolic importance of Kyiv, as the cradle of Russian Orthodoxy
Russian Orthodoxy (russian: Русское православие) is the body of several churches within the larger communion of Eastern Orthodox Christianity, whose liturgy is or was traditionally conducted in Church Slavonic language. Most ...
. It was only allowed to convert existing buildings into Jewish worship houses.
In 1895, permission was given to build a synagogue in the Podil district, a poor quarter of Kyiv. The location was however too far from the city center where the wealthy Jews lived such that they could not walk there on Sabbath. They wished a big choral synagogue in the city center, similar to those in St. Petersburg
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
, Moscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
and Odessa
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 administrativ ...
.
To evade the ban, Brodsky and rabbi Evsey Tsukerman sent a complaint to the Governing Senate
The Governing Senate (russian: Правительствующий сенат, Pravitelstvuyushchiy senat) was a legislative, judicial, and executive body of the Russian Emperors, instituted by Peter the Great to replace the Boyar Duma and lasted ...
requesting a permission to build a worship house in the private estate of Brodsky. As an attachment they included only a side view drawing of the planned building which looked like a private mansion.[Мерой света и молитвы](_blank)
. ''Агентство еврейских новостей'', Киев, 2008 (''Jewish news agency'', Kiev, 2008; in Russian)[Синагога Бродского](_blank)
MyKiev (in Russian) The permission was obtained, and the synagogue became an example of an Aesopian synagogue.
In 1926, the synagogue was closed down by the Soviet authorities. The building was converted into an artisan club.
The building was devastated during the World War II by Nazis
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Naz ...
and was subsequently used as a puppet theatre
Puppetry is a form of theatre or performance that involves the manipulation of puppets – inanimate objects, often resembling some type of human or animal figure, that are animated or manipulated by a human called a puppeteer. Such a performan ...
. An additional facade was built in the 1970s.
In 1997, the theatre moved into a new building. The old building was renovated and since 2000 it is again used as a synagogue. The restoration was mainly financed by a media proprietor Vadim Rabinovich.
2022 Russian Invasion
Since the beginning of the ongoing invasion of Ukraine by Russia, the Brodsky Synagogue has served as a main point of refuge for Ukrainian refugees, as well as a main distribution point for humanitarian aid. Relief efforts have been led by Rabbi Moshe Reuven Azman the head of the Brodsky Synagogue and the Chief Rabbi of Ukraine.
Gallery
File:Синагога Бродского вул. Шота Руставели, 13 в Киеве.jpg, Postcard, 1909
File:Brodsky synagogue in seventieths.png, Puppet theater in the 1970s
File:Синагога_Бродского.JPG, Bird's eye view today
File:Синагога Бродского_вул. Шота Руставели, 13 в Киеве 1.jpg, The Holy Ark
A Torah ark (also known as the ''Heikhal'', or the ''Aron Kodesh'') refers to an ornamental chamber in the synagogue that houses the Torah scrolls.
History
The ark, also known as the ''ark of law'', or in Hebrew the ''Aron Kodesh'' or ''aron ha- ...
of the synagogue
File:Синагога Бродского_вул. Шота Руставели, 13 в Киеве 2.jpg , The Parochet
A ''parochet'' (Hebrew: פרוכת; Ashkenazi pronunciation: ''paroches'') meaning "curtain" or "screen",Sonne Isaiah (1962) 'Synagogue' in The Interpreter's dictionary of the Bible vol 4, New York: Abingdon Press pp 476-491 is the curtain that c ...
of the Holy Ark
File:Синагога Бродского вул. Шота Руставели, 13 в Киеве 3.jpg, Ner tamid
See also
*History of the Jews in Kyiv The history of the Jews in Kyiv stretches from the 10th century CE to the 21st century, and forms part of the history of the Jews in Ukraine.
Middle Ages and Renaissance
The first mention of Jews in Kyiv is found in the 10th century '' Kievian Le ...
References
External links
Official website
{{Coord, 50, 26, 19.14, N, 30, 31, 13.5, E, source:ukwiki_region:UA_scale:100000, display=title
Chabad in Europe
Hasidic Judaism in Ukraine
Synagogues completed in 1898
Religious organizations established in 1898
Synagogues in Kyiv
Romanesque Revival synagogues
Aesopian synagogues
1898 establishments in the Russian Empire
Moorish Revival synagogues
Chabad organizations
Orthodox synagogues in Ukraine