The Dushanbe Synagogue (), also known as the Bukharian Synagogue (), was a former

Bukharian Bukharan Jews, also known as Bukharian Jews, are the Mizrahi Jewish sub-group of Central Asia that dwelt predominantly in what is today Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Afghanistan. The group's name is derived from the Emirate of Bukh ...

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

congregation and

synagogue A synagogue, also called a shul or a temple, is a place of worship for Jews and Samaritans. It is a place for prayer (the main sanctuary and sometimes smaller chapels) where Jews attend religious services or special ceremonies such as wed ...

, located in

Dushanbe Dushanbe is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Tajikistan. , Dushanbe had a population of 1,564,700, with this population being largely Tajiks, Tajik. Until 1929, the city was known in Russian as Dyushambe, and from 1929 to 1961 as St ...

, the capital of

Tajikistan Tajikistan, officially the Republic of Tajikistan, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Dushanbe is the capital city, capital and most populous city. Tajikistan borders Afghanistan to the Afghanistan–Tajikistan border, south, Uzbekistan to ...

. Constructed in the 19th century in one of the two Jewish Quarters in Dushanbe at the time, the synagogue was demolished between 2006 and 2008. The synagogue was part of the Jewish community compound, which also included ritual buildings and a school. In February 2006, the Government of Tajikistan began demolition of the Jewish community compound as part of an urban redevelopment plan designed to make way for a new presidential residence, the

Palace of the Nation The Palace of the Nation (; ; ) is a neoclassical palace in Brussels, Belgium, housing the Belgian Federal Parliament. The Parliament consists of both the Chamber of Representatives (lower house) and the Senate (upper house), which convene in ...

, with adjoining landscaped areas. The demolition of the synagogue was delayed due to international protests and a series of court actions until the end of June 2008, when the old building was finally razed. A new synagogue, the New Dushanbe Synagogue, was opened in 2009.

The former synagogue building

Built by the Bukharian Jewish community in the late 19th century, the synagogue was seized by the

Soviets The Soviet people () were the citizens and nationals of the Soviet Union. This demonym was presented in the ideology of the country as the "new historical unity of peoples of different nationalities" (). Nationality policy in the Soviet Union ...

in 1920 and

nationalized Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization contrasts with priv ...

in 1952. The Jewish community was again allowed access to the building in 1958, although the land remained in government hands (as all land was and still is state-owned in Tajikistan). The synagogue functioned after Tajikistan's independence in 1991 and throughout its

civil war A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

from 1992 to 1997. It was vandalized in 1995 in an incident which also included the ransacking of Jewish homes. In May 2003, the Jewish community received an official letter ordering them to vacate the buildings, including the synagogue, by July of that year. Demolition, originally scheduled for 2004, began in early February 2006 with the destruction of the community's ''

mikvah A mikveh or mikvah (, ''mikva'ot'', ''mikvot'', or ( Ashkenazic) ''mikves'', lit., "a collection") is a bath used for ritual immersion in Judaism to achieve ritual purity. In Orthodox Judaism, these regulations are steadfastly adhered t ...

'', or ritual bath,

kosher (also or , ) is a set of dietary laws dealing with the foods that Jewish people are permitted to eat and how those foods must be prepared according to Jewish law. Food that may be consumed is deemed kosher ( in English, ), from the Ashke ...

butcher, and classrooms. Demolition of the synagogue was delayed until June 2008 due to international protests and a series of court actions. The synagogue was finally demolished on 22 June 2008.

Controversy over demolition

The government ordered the demolition of the entire Jewish community compound, including the synagogue, in accordance with city center regeneration plans, specifically the construction of the

surrounded by extensive landscaped grounds. At the time demolition began, the synagogue was a functioning house of worship serving Dushanbe's small Jewish community (150 to 350 Jews). This was the last remaining synagogue in Tajikistan. While the government argued that the building was of no historical significance and could be demolished in accordance with city planning needs, the Jewish community stated that, as the last remaining Jewish house of prayer in a country that had been a home to Jews for at least two thousand years, the building was of considerable historical significance. The ownership of the building was also disputed. The Jewish community reported that it had documentation of its original (pre-Soviet) ownership of the building and the purchase of the land on which the synagogue had been constructed. The Dushanbe municipal authorities argued, on the other hand, that the state owned the land and the building since it underwent nationalisation in 1952 by the

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

authorities. Back in 2004, the

Chief Rabbi Chief Rabbi () is a title given in several countries to the recognized religious leader of that country's Jewish community, or to a rabbinic leader appointed by the local secular authorities. Since 1911, through a capitulation by Ben-Zion Meir ...

Central Asia Central Asia is a region of Asia consisting of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The countries as a group are also colloquially referred to as the "-stans" as all have names ending with the Persian language, Pers ...

, Rabbi Abraham Dovid Gurevich, raised the issue of

antisemitism Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...

, hinting that the prospect of a synagogue standing next to the Palace of Nations would cause embarrassment to the authorities, but the US

State Department The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs o ...

framed the issue as "bureaucratic, rather than ideological".

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

wrote a letter to the government of Tajikistan in 2004 that destruction of the synagogue would be in "contradiction with international standards for the protection of cultural heritage". The ''

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

'' reported in 2006 that "those opposed to the demolition had been threatened by officials and most of the congregation are afraid to speak out". In March 2006 it appeared for a short time that the Government of Tajikistan had reversed their decision and would allow the Jewish community to keep the synagogue on the current site. In May 2006, however, it was announced that the synagogue would be rebuilt on "a suitable new site at the center of the city". Still, the Dushanbe Jewish community, spurred by international public opinion, continued its attempts to save the old synagogue on the original site, but in June 2008, the Dushanbe municipal courts finally ruled that the demolition of the old synagogue would proceed as ordered. Although the government refuses to compensate the Jewish community for the loss of the building, it has allocated a plot of 1,500 square meters for the construction of a new synagogue on the banks of the Dushanbinka River in the Firdavsi municipal district in the west of the city. At the end of June 2008, immediately after the destruction of the old synagogue, Lev Leviev, the President of the Federation of Jewish Communities of the CIS (FJC), confirmed during a visit to Dushanbe that the construction of a synagogue on the new site would begin soon, financed by FJC, the Bukharian Jewish Congress, and private donors.

The new synagogue building

The New Dushanbe Synagogue was opened on 4 May 2009 in an existing building donated for this purpose by Hasan Assadullozoda, a Tajik businessman and the brother-in-law of President Emomalii Rakhmon. The opening ceremony was attended by U.S. Ambassador Tracey Ann Jacobson, Tajik Deputy Culture Minister Mavlon Mukhtorov, and Imam Habibullo Azamkhonov.

Gallery

Dushanbe Synagogue Entrance.jpg, Main entrance of the destroyed synagogue, in 2006 Dushanbe Synagogue interior.jpg, Courtyard of the destroyed synagogue, in 2006 Social Hall of the Synagogue of Dushanbe.jpg, Social hall of the demolished synagogue, in 2008 shortly before it was demolished Library of the Synagogue of Dushanbe2.jpg, The library of the demolished synagogue

References

External links

* * * * * * * {{cite web , url=https://cja.huji.ac.il/browser.php?id=19337&mode=set , title=Dushanbe Synagogue , work=The Bezalel Narkiss Index of Jewish Art , publisher=The

Center for Jewish Art The Center for Jewish Art (CJA) is a research institute at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, devoted to the documentation and research of Jewish visual culture. Established in 1979, it documented and researched objects of Jewish art in ca. 800 ...

The Hebrew University of Jerusalem The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; ) is an Israeli public research university based in Jerusalem. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Chaim Weizmann in July 1918, the public university officially opened on 1 April 1925. It is the second-ol ...

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Bukharan Jews topics Destroyed synagogues Jewish communities

Synagogues in Tajikistan 2008 in Tajikistan

Synagogue A synagogue, also called a shul or a temple, is a place of worship for Jews and Samaritans. It is a place for prayer (the main sanctuary and sometimes smaller chapels) where Jews attend religious services or special ceremonies such as wed ...