The Moscow Choral Synagogue (russian: Московская Хopaльнaя Cинaгoга, ; he, בית כנסת הכוראלי של מוסקבה) is one of the main synagogues in

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

and in the former

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

. It is located in central Basmanny District at 10 Bolshoy Spasogolinischevsky Lane, close to Kitai-Gorod Metro station. Chief Rabbi

Adolf Shayevich Adolf Solomonovich Shayevich (russian: Адольф Соломонович Шаевич; born 28 October 1937)Zaryadye. Moscow city authorities had officially banned synagogue construction inside

Kitai-gorod Kitay-gorod ( rus, Китай-город, p=kʲɪˈtaj ˈɡorət), also referred to as the Great Possad () in the 16th and 17th centuries, is a cultural and historical area within the central part of Moscow in Russia, defined by the remnants ...

, and thus the synagogue was built one block east from its walls. In 1881, the community hired architect Semeon Eibuschitz, an

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

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 Russian Revolution of 1905,. also known as the First Russian Revolution,. occurred on 22 January 1905, and was a wave of mass political and social unrest that spread through vast areas of the Russian Empire. The mass unrest was directed again ...

, 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 architect Roman Klein to finish the construction. The synagogue opened in

1906 Events January–February * January 12 – Persian Constitutional Revolution: A nationalistic coalition of merchants, religious leaders and intellectuals in Persia forces the shah Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar to grant a constitution, ...

. It operated throughout the

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...

period, although authorities annexed some parts of the original building for secular purposes in 1923 and 1960. Golda Meir Moscow 1948

In October, 1948,

Golda Meir Golda Meir, ; ar, جولدا مائير, Jūldā Māʾīr., group=nb (born Golda Mabovitch; 3 May 1898 – 8 December 1978) was an Israeli politician, teacher, and '' kibbutznikit'' who served as the fourth prime minister of Israel from 1969 to ...

, the first representative from

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

to the

, paid an unauthorized visit to the synagogue to attend

Rosh Hashana Rosh HaShanah ( he, רֹאשׁ הַשָּׁנָה, , literally "head of the year") is the Jewish New Year. The biblical name for this holiday is Yom Teruah (, , lit. "day of shouting/blasting") It is the first of the Jewish High Holy Days (, , " ...

and

Yom Kippur Yom Kippur (; he, יוֹם כִּפּוּר, , , ) is the holiest day in Judaism and Samaritanism. It occurs annually on the 10th of Tishrei, the first month of the Hebrew calendar. Primarily centered on atonement and repentance, the day' ...

services, enraging the Soviet government. When the final illness of Joseph Stalin was announced in March 1953, the chief rabbi held a special service and called for fasting and prayer that the dictator might recover. The synagogue has been recently restored. Since 1990, it has been known for the Turetsky Choir Art Group.

Rabbis

The chief Moscow rabbi up to 1938, Shmarya Yehuda Leib Medalia, 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 Vitebsk or Viciebsk (russian: Витебск, ; be, Ві́цебск, ; , ''Vitebsk'', lt, Vitebskas, pl, Witebsk), is a city in Belarus. The capital of the Vitebsk Region, it has 366,299 inhabitants, making it the country's fourth-largest c ...

. 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 Chabad-Lubavitch Rebbe, Rabbi

Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn Yosef Yitzchak (Joseph Isaac) Schneersohn ( yi, יוסף יצחק שניאורסאהן; 21 June 1880 – 28 January 1950) was an Orthodox rabbi and the sixth Rebbe (spiritual leader) of the Chabad Lubavitch Chasidic movement. He is also known ...

, who was exiled by the Soviets 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 forced to settle outside the city limits. Captain of the State Security Aronov wrote, in a report of Dec. 28, 1937, that Rabbi Medalie maintained “illegal” relations with Rabbi Schneerson. Captain Aronov requested a prosecutor’s sanction for search and arrest. The rabbi was arrested on January 4, 1938. A short closed session of the Military Board of the Supreme Court of the USSR met on April 26, 1938, without calling prosecutors, defence attorneys and witnesses, and sentenced the rabbi to immediate execution by firing. The rabbi was shot the same day. On December 7, 1957, the sentence was vacated "due to the absence of a crime." * Yehuda Leib Levin, ? - 1971. * Yakov Fishman, 1972-1983.News in Brief - Los Angeles Times - Jun 4, 1972 *

Adolf Shayevich Adolf Solomonovich Shayevich (russian: Адольф Соломонович Шаевич; born 28 October 1937)

Notes

References

* Улицкий, Е.Н., "История Московской еврейской общины: Документы и материалы (XVIII - начало ХХ в.)", М, КРПА ОЛИМП, 2006 * Лобовская, М.И., "История Московской хоральной синагоги", М, Дом еврейской книги, 2006

External links

Moscow Choral Synagogue
Official website *
History, the Jewish Congress
{{authority control Jewish music Synagogues in Moscow Orthodox synagogues in Russia Synagogues completed in 1906 1906 establishments in the Russian Empire Cultural heritage monuments of regional significance in Moscow

Rabbis

See also

Notes

References

External links