The Great Choral Synagogue of Kyiv, also known as the Podil Synagogue or the Rozenberg Synagogue, is the oldest 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 River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the seventh-most populous city in Europe.
Ky ...
,
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 inva ...
. It is situated in
Podil
Podil ( uk, Поділ) or the Lower cityIvankin, H., Vortman, D. Podil (ПОДІЛ)'. Encyclopedia of History of Ukraine. is a historic neighborhood in Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine. It is located on a floodplain terrace over the Dnieper betwe ...
, a
historic neighborhood of Kyiv, and is under the leadership of Rabbi Bleich.
History
The
Aesopian synagogue
An Aesopian synagogue is one that was built with its true purpose disguised. This term is used in relation to the former Russian Empire where there were severe restrictions against the building of Jewish places of worship. To get around the rules, ...
was built in 1895.
It was designed in
Neo-Moorish
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 centur ...
style by
Nikolay Gordenin. Gabriel Yakob Rozenberg, a merchant, financed the building.
In 1915 the building was reconstructed by
Valerian Rykov
Valerian may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* a fictional character in ''Valérian and Laureline'', a comics series
**''Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets'', a film adaptation of the comic series
* an early pseudonym for Gary Numan (b ...
. The reconstruction was financed by Vladimir Ginzburg, a nephew of Rozenberg.
In 1929, the synagogue was closed. During the German occupation of Kyiv in
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
, the
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 N ...
converted the building into a horse
stable
A stable is a building in which livestock, especially horses, are kept. It most commonly means a building that is divided into separate stalls for individual animals and livestock. There are many different types of stables in use today; the ...
.
Since 1945, the building has again been used as a synagogue. In 1992,
Yaakov Bleich
Yaakov Dov Bleich (born October 19, 1964) is an American-born rabbi, and Chief Rabbi of the Great Choral Synagogue in Kiev.
Rabbi Bleich was vice-president of the World Jewish Congress from 2009-2017. Bleich chose not to run for re-election as ...
was appointed rabbi of the Great Choral Synagogue.
Gallery
Image:Синагога_на_Подолі_вул._Щекавицька,_29_в_Киеве_3.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
Image:Синагога_на_Подолі_вул._Щекавицька,_29_в_Киеве_8.jpg, A stained glass
Stained glass is coloured glass as a material or works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant religious buildings. Although tradition ...
window
Image:Kyiv Great Choral Synagogue inside 2019.jpg, Interior
Image:Київська велика хоральна синагога.jpg, Outside
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
The Historic Podil Synagogue
Synagogues in Kyiv
Aesopian synagogues
Moorish Revival architecture in Ukraine
Moorish Revival synagogues
Synagogue buildings with domes
Orthodox synagogues in Ukraine
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