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The Choral Synagogue or the Great Synagogue was the main synagogue in
Brest, Belarus Brest ( be, Брэст / Берасьце, Bieraście, ; russian: Брест, ; uk, Берестя, Berestia; lt, Brasta; pl, Brześć; yi, בריסק, Brisk), formerly Brest-Litovsk (russian: Брест-Литовск, lit=Lithuanian Br ...
(known in Yiddish as Brisk). Completed in circa 1862, it was used as a synagogue until World War II.


History

An old synagogue had stood in Brest for nearly a century, having been built in 1759. However in 1847, its building was either destroyed or had burned down, and funds were collected to erect a new building. The building took years to complete due to a lack of funding; despite the construction's commencement being in 1851, the structure was only completed in 1861/1862. In 1859, a fire ravaged the synagogue but it was restored. In 1941, with the creation of the Brest Ghetto during World War II, the synagogue sat on the ghetto border, next to its entrance, and was used by 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 Na ...
as a warehouse. Although the building was damaged in 1942 during the ghetto's liquidation, it remained standing until 1959. At that time, it was confiscated by the communist government and transformed into a theatre, known today as Cinema Belarus. A plaque outside memorializes the synagogue. In addition, Hebrew inscriptions are still visible in the basement.


Rabbis

Brest was home to a flourishing
Orthodox Jewish Orthodox Judaism is the collective term for the traditionalist and theologically conservative branches of contemporary Judaism. Theologically, it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah, both Written and Oral, as revealed by God to Moses on M ...
community. At the time of the original synagogue's destruction, the city's rabbi was Rabbi Yaakov Meir Padua. In fact, he personally drew up the blueprints for the new synagogue. However, he died in 1855 before the building's completion. He was succeeded by Rabbi Tzvi Hirsch Orenstein, an influential rabbi who opened a communal hospital and an old age home. However he was exiled by the authorities in1874 and succeeded by Rabbi
Yehoshua Leib Diskin Moshe Yehoshua Yehuda Leib Diskin (1818–1898), also known as the Maharil Diskin, was a leading rabbi, Talmudist, and Biblical commentator. He served as a rabbi in Łomża, Mezritch, Kovno, Shklov, Brisk, and, finally, Jerusalem, after moving t ...
. Immensely popular, his
yeshiva A yeshiva (; he, ישיבה, , sitting; pl. , or ) is a traditional Jewish educational institution focused on the study of Rabbinic literature, primarily the Talmud and halacha (Jewish law), while Torah and Jewish philosophy are s ...
attracted prodigious
Torah scholar ''Talmid Chakham'' is an honorific title which is given to a man who is well versed in Jewish law, i. e., a Torah scholar. Originally he, תלמיד חכמים ''Talmid Chakhamim'', lit., "student of sages", pl. תלמידי חכמים ''talmid ...
s. Rabbi Diskin was also a fierce opponent of the
secular Secularity, also the secular or secularness (from Latin ''saeculum'', "worldly" or "of a generation"), is the state of being unrelated or neutral in regards to religion. Anything that does not have an explicit reference to religion, either negativ ...
Haskalah 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 ...
(Jewish enlightenment) movement, and when a club of Haskalists (Hebrew: ''maskilim'') arose in Brest under the tutelage of a man named Alexandrov, he worked to disband it. In revenge, Alexandrov libeled him to the police on false claims of theft, leading to him being arrested. While he soon managed to get out of prison, he emigrated to the British Mandate. His post in Brest was filled by his student, Rabbi
Yosef Dov Soloveitchik Yosef Dov Soloveitchik (born 1820 in Nesvizh, Minsk Governorate, Russian Empire; died May 1, 1892 in Brest-Litovsk, Grodno Governorate, Russian Empire) was the author of Beis Halevi, by which name he is better known among Talmudic scholars. He w ...
(the ''Beis HaLevi''). The rabbinate would remain in his family for the next two generations, passing on to his son, Rabbi
Chaim Soloveitchik Chaim (Halevi) Soloveitchik (Yiddish: חיים סאָלאָווייטשיק, pl, Chaim Sołowiejczyk), also known as Reb Chaim Brisker (1853 – 30 July 1918), was a rabbi and Talmudic scholar credited as the founder of the popular Brisker appr ...
, and then to his grandson Rabbi
Yitzchak Zev Soloveitchik Yitzchok Zev Halevi Soloveitchik (Hebrew: יצחק זאב הלוי סולובייצ'יק), also known as Velvel Soloveitchik ("Zev" means "wolf" in Hebrew, and "Velvel" is the diminutive of "wolf" in Yiddish) or the Brisker Rov ("rabbi of/from B ...
, who led the community until World War II. The latter was the founder of the famed
Brisk Yeshiva The Soloveitchik dynasty of rabbinic scholars and their students originated the Brisker method of Talmudic study, which is embraced by their followers in the Brisk yeshivas. It is so called because of the Soloveitchiks' origin in the town of Bri ...
in Jerusalem.


Gallery

File:Bieraściejskaja synagoga. Берасьцейская сынагога (1915-18).jpg, 1915-1918 File:Brześć synagoga.jpg, Early 20th century File:Museum Jews of Brest 1h.jpg, Model in the Brest Jewish Museum File:Museum Jews of Brest 1e.jpg, Model in the Brest Jewish Museum File:Брэст. Савецкая вуліца 15.jpg, Cinema Belarus File:Yeshiva Toras Chesed.png, Portraits of the students of the
yeshiva A yeshiva (; he, ישיבה, , sitting; pl. , or ) is a traditional Jewish educational institution focused on the study of Rabbinic literature, primarily the Talmud and halacha (Jewish law), while Torah and Jewish philosophy are s ...
in Brest


See also

*
Brisk tradition and Soloveitchik dynasty The Soloveitchik dynasty of rabbinic scholars and their students originated the Brisker method of Talmudic study, which is embraced by their followers in the Brisk yeshivas. It is so called because of the Soloveitchiks' origin in the town of Bri ...
*
Great Synagogue (Grodno) The Great Synagogue of Grodno, ( be, Харальная сінагога, Горадня, russian: Большая Хоральная синагога, Гродно) located in Grodno, Belarus, dates from the 16th century and is a 2007 candidate ...


References

{{Reflist Buildings and structures in Brest, Belarus History of Brest, Belarus Synagogues completed in 1862 20th-century synagogues Synagogues in Belarus Orthodox synagogues Former synagogues