Moscow Choral Synagogue
Encyclopedia
The Moscow Choral Synagogue is the main synagogue
in Russia
and in the former Soviet Union
. It is located in central Basmanny District
at 10, Bolshoy Spasogolinischevsky Lane, close to Kitai-Gorod Metro station
. Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt
is the spiritual head of this Synagogue.
. Moscow city authorities had officially banned synagogue construction inside Kitai-gorod
, thus the synagogue was built one block east from its walls. In 1881, the community hired architect Semeon Eibuschitz, an Austria
n citizen working in Moscow. However, his 1881 draft plan was not approved by authorities. The second draft, also by Eibuschitz, was approved in July, 1886, and construction began on May 28, 1887. In 1888, the city intervened again, and required the builders to remove the completed dome and the exterior image of the Scrolls of Moses. Construction dragged on for five years, until the authorities once again banned it in 1892, giving two choices - sell the unfinished building or convert it into a charity.
During the Russian Revolution of 1905
, the Czarist government was forced to lift all bans on worship, so Jews, Old Believers
, and other minority faith groups were free to build their places of worship anywhere. Eibuschitz had died in 1898, and so the community hired famous architect Roman Klein
to finish the construction. The synagogue opened in 1906
. It operated throughout the Soviet period, although authorities had annexed some parts of the original building for secular purposes (in 1923 and 1960).
In September, 1948, Golda Meir
, the first ambassador from Israel
to the Soviet Union
, paid an unauthorized visit to the synagogue, enraging the Soviet government.
The synagogue has been recently restored. It is also known for the famous choir of Michael Turetsky
.
, born in Lithuania in 1872, started his rabbinical service in Tula
, then a small provincial town about 100 miles from Moscow, and later moved to serve a much larger and more vibrant Jewish community in the Belorussian city of Vitebsk
. By the time of revolution of 1917, the Rabbi had six sons and five daughters. In the 1920s, he was invited to take over the Moscow Choral Synagogue, and the family moved to the Soviet capital. He had become a follower of the Chasidic Lubavicher Rebbe Schneerson who was luckily exiled by the Soviets out of the country and at the time lived in Poland. To be an active religious leader, especially a Jewish one, under the Communists was an uneasy task, and the Moscow Rabbi was permanently harassed by the authorities, chased from a Moscow apartment and settled out of the city limits. Captain of the State Security Aronov wrote, in his report of Dec. 28, 1937, that Rabbi Medalie maintained “illegal” relations with Rabbi Schneerson. Captain Aronov requested a prosecutor’s sanction for the search and arrest. The Rabbi was arrested on January 4, 1938. The close short session of the Military Board of the Supreme Court of the USSR met on April 26, 1938, without calling prosecutors, defencse attorneys and witnesses, and sentenced the rabbi to execution by immediate firing. The rabbi was shot on the same day. On December 7, 1957, the sentence was vacated "due to the absence of a crime." Source: E.M. Rabinovich, "Sentence - Execution", Moment, Febr. 1999.
Synagogue
A synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer. This use of the Greek term synagogue originates in the Septuagint where it sometimes translates the Hebrew word for assembly, kahal...
in Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
and in the former Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
. It is located in central Basmanny District
Basmanny District
Basmanny District is a district of Central Administrative Okrug of Moscow, Russia. Population: The district extends northeast from Kitai-gorod, within the radial boundaries of Vorontsovo Pole Street and Yauza River in the south and Myasnitskaya Street and Novaya Basmannaya Street in the north...
at 10, Bolshoy Spasogolinischevsky Lane, close to Kitai-Gorod Metro station
Kitay-Gorod (Metro)
Kitay-gorod is a Moscow Metro station on the Kaluzhsko-Rizhskaya and Tagansko-Krasnopresnenskaya lines. It is one of four stations within the Moscow Metro network providing cross-platform interchange ....
. Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt
Pinchas Goldschmidt
Pinchas Goldschmidt is the Chief Rabbi of Moscow, Russia since 1993Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt is the spiritual leader of the Moscow Choral Synagogue, the head of the rabbinnical court of the CIS, and is an officer of the Russian Jewish Congress .Goldschmidt represents the Russian Jewish community...
is the spiritual head of this Synagogue.
History
The synagogue is located close to the former Jewish settlement in ZaryadyeZaryadye
Zaryadye is a historical district in Moscow established in 12-13th centuries within Kitai-gorod, between Varvarka Street and Moskva River. The name means "the place behind the rows", i.e., behind the market rows adjacent to the Red Square.-History:...
. Moscow city authorities had officially banned synagogue construction inside Kitai-gorod
Kitai-gorod
Kitay-gorod , earlier also known as Great Posad , is a business district within Moscow, Russia, encircled by mostly-reconstructed medieval walls. It is separated from the Moscow Kremlin by Red Square. It does not constitute a district , as there are no resident voters, thus, municipal elections...
, thus the synagogue was built one block east from its walls. In 1881, the community hired architect Semeon Eibuschitz, an Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
n citizen working in Moscow. However, his 1881 draft plan was not approved by authorities. The second draft, also by Eibuschitz, was approved in July, 1886, and construction began on May 28, 1887. In 1888, the city intervened again, and required the builders to remove the completed dome and the exterior image of the Scrolls of Moses. Construction dragged on for five years, until the authorities once again banned it in 1892, giving two choices - sell the unfinished building or convert it into a charity.
During the Russian Revolution of 1905
Russian Revolution of 1905
The 1905 Russian Revolution was a wave of mass political and social unrest that spread through vast areas of the Russian Empire. Some of it was directed against the government, while some was undirected. It included worker strikes, peasant unrest, and military mutinies...
, the Czarist government was forced to lift all bans on worship, so Jews, Old Believers
Old Believers
In the context of Russian Orthodox church history, the Old Believers separated after 1666 from the official Russian Orthodox Church as a protest against church reforms introduced by Patriarch Nikon between 1652–66...
, and other minority faith groups were free to build their places of worship anywhere. Eibuschitz had died in 1898, and so the community hired famous architect Roman Klein
Roman Klein
Roman Ivanovich Klein , born Robert Julius Klein, was a Russian architect and educator, best known for his Neoclassical Pushkin Museum in Moscow. Klein, an eclectic, was one of the most prolific architects of his period, second only to Fyodor Schechtel...
to finish the construction. The synagogue opened in 1906
1906 in architecture
The year 1906 in architecture involved some significant events.-Buildings:* Unity Temple in Oak Park, Illinois, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright is completed.* Construction begins on the current Great Mosque of Djenné....
. It operated throughout the Soviet period, although authorities had annexed some parts of the original building for secular purposes (in 1923 and 1960).
In September, 1948, Golda Meir
Golda Meir
Golda Meir ; May 3, 1898 – December 8, 1978) was a teacher, kibbutznik and politician who became the fourth Prime Minister of the State of Israel....
, the first ambassador from Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
to the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
, paid an unauthorized visit to the synagogue, enraging the Soviet government.
The synagogue has been recently restored. It is also known for the famous choir of Michael Turetsky
Choir of Michael Turetsky
-The Milestones of the History of the Turetsky Choir:* 1989 — Mikhail Turetsky creates and conducts the Moscow Choral Synagogue's* 1990 — Thanks to the American Joint Distribution Committee , the Choir made its official debut at the Moscow Choral Synagogue in 1990 and ever since, has been a vehicle...
.
Rabbis
The chief Moscow rabbi up to 1938 Shmarya Yehuda Leib MedaliaShmarya Yehuda Leib Medalia
Shmarya Yehuda-Leib Medalia - was the chief rabbi of Moscow between 1933 and 1938.Shmarya Yehuda-Leib Yankelevich Medalia was born to a family of Lubavitcher hasidim. He is an alumnus of the original Slabodka yeshiva.Between 1899-1903, he served as the rabbi of Tula, Russia; and between 1905-1917,...
, born in Lithuania in 1872, started his rabbinical service in Tula
Tula
Tula may refer to:In geography:*Tula, Hidalgo, a town in Mexico, once the capital and sacred city of the Toltec people.*Tula, Tamaulipas, a place in the state of Tamaulipas, Mexico*Tula River in central Mexico...
, then a small provincial town about 100 miles from Moscow, and later moved to serve a much larger and more vibrant Jewish community in the Belorussian city of Vitebsk
Vitebsk
Vitebsk, also known as Viciebsk or Vitsyebsk , is a city in Belarus, near the border with Russia. The capital of the Vitebsk Oblast, in 2004 it had 342,381 inhabitants, making it the country's fourth largest city...
. By the time of revolution of 1917, the Rabbi had six sons and five daughters. In the 1920s, he was invited to take over the Moscow Choral Synagogue, and the family moved to the Soviet capital. He had become a follower of the Chasidic Lubavicher Rebbe Schneerson who was luckily exiled by the Soviets out of the country and at the time lived in Poland. To be an active religious leader, especially a Jewish one, under the Communists was an uneasy task, and the Moscow Rabbi was permanently harassed by the authorities, chased from a Moscow apartment and settled out of the city limits. Captain of the State Security Aronov wrote, in his report of Dec. 28, 1937, that Rabbi Medalie maintained “illegal” relations with Rabbi Schneerson. Captain Aronov requested a prosecutor’s sanction for the search and arrest. The Rabbi was arrested on January 4, 1938. The close short session of the Military Board of the Supreme Court of the USSR met on April 26, 1938, without calling prosecutors, defencse attorneys and witnesses, and sentenced the rabbi to execution by immediate firing. The rabbi was shot on the same day. On December 7, 1957, the sentence was vacated "due to the absence of a crime." Source: E.M. Rabinovich, "Sentence - Execution", Moment, Febr. 1999.
- Yehuda Leib Levin, ? - 1971.
- Yakov Fishman, 1972-1983.
- Adolf ShayevichAdolf ShayevichAdolf Solomonovich Shayevich has been since 1983 the rabbi of Moscow Choral Synagogue, which has been traditionally considered as Moscow's main Jewish temple.During the waning days of the Soviet Union, Shayevich was sometimes unofficially referred to in the...
, since 1983.