♊️ 🧢 🧘🏾 Moscow Choral Synagogue 🕘 🏯 🖖🏼

In the capital of Russia there are five synagogues. All of them are beautiful and peculiar in their own way. But the Moscow Choral Synagogue is special. She is the oldest and largest of all the Jewish temples of the city. It houses the Chief Rabbinate of the country. There is also a Jewish orphanage and a yeshiva religious school.

Why is the synagogue called the choral? This is another feature of the temple. During worship services, a small choir of professional cantors sings. It will be interesting for non-Jews to visit the Moscow Choral Synagogue. Amazing rich interior of this house of worship. The cathedral is also interesting outside. Its facade is somewhat reminiscent of a museum, since its classical columns adorn. And the dome gives the synagogue a resemblance to the Orthodox Church. Only it is not the cross that crowns him, but the star of David. The halls resemble a Catholic cathedral. What kind of synagogue is this? Why is she so interesting? Read about it in our article.

Moscow Choral Synagogue: address, how to get

This main Jewish temple is located on Ivanovskaya Gorka, in the Basmanny district of the capital. From a small hill open beautiful views. Therefore, the temple also has another name - "the synagogue on the hill." The exact address of the prayer house is Bolshoi Spasoglinischevsky Lane, 10. You can’t immediately determine that you have the Moscow Choral Synagogue in front of the large silver dome and columns decorating the entrance. How to get to the place, you can tell the locals. It is very close, literally two hundred meters from the metro station Kitay-Gorod. You can get to the synagogue from the station "South-West". But the first option is better. After leaving the Kitai-Gorod metro station, you should go in the opposite direction from Ilyinsky Square . Bolshoi Spasoglinischevsky Lane, where the synagogue is located, is parallel to Lubyansky passage, where the metro station and ground transport stops are located.

History of the Jewish community in Moscow

The capital of Russia has long been inhabited by people of different nationalities and religions. But Jews were allowed to live and work in Moscow only by the tsar-reformer Alexander II. Therefore, they began to settle here only in the second half of the nineteenth century. Near the place where the Moscow Choral Synagogue is now located, in Zaryadye, on the Glebovsky Compound, there was a cheap hotel, as they say, a hostel. Jewish merchants who came to the capital on business liked to settle there. After the removal of the Pale of Settlement by Alexander the Second, this area slowly turned into a ghetto. The Jewish community has become so large that it would be worthwhile to think about building a house of worship.

The ups and downs in connection with the construction of the synagogue

A petition for the construction of a Jewish temple was submitted and permission was obtained. Architect S. Eybuchitz developed the design of the building. The community leader L. Polyakov acquired a land plot under it. May 28, 1887 was laid the foundation of the temple. It is known that in the eastern wall there is an ampoule with a letter about this event. The building itself was built in 1891.

It seemed that everything was going well, as the unforeseen happened - the king-reformer was killed. Following this, persecution of Jews began, and the Pale of Settlement was reintroduced. And then there was an incident with the Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich. He took the dome of the synagogue for the head of the Orthodox Church and crossed himself. Then he realized his mistake and became furious. Jews were required to remove the dome, as it “offends the feelings of believers.”

The community went for it - after all, synagogues do not have architectural canons. But this did not help either. The chief prosecutor of the Holy Synod of Pobedonostsev demanded that the images of the Moses tablets be removed from the pediment. Then the Moscow Choral Synagogue was completely sealed.

Short “thaw”

Jews were allowed to worship again only after the 1905 Manifesto, which allowed religious freedom. The building of the house of worship by that time was in significant decline. After all, it housed a real school. But the Moscow Choral Synagogue became even more beautiful thanks to the efforts of the architect Roman Klein, who had an internship with the famous Garnier, the author of the Paris Opera. It was from him that he borrowed the idea of retrospectivism. Light penetrates freely through large oblong windows.

But this beautiful eclectic-style building did not function as a synagogue for long. Already in 1922, the Soviet government banned worship. The building was occupied by Tekstilstroy. And part of the structure was used by the Moscow metro as a reserve mine.

Modern look

In 2001, the Russian Jewish Congress and the Moscow community, under the patronage of Mayor Yu. Luzhkov, began reconstruction of the temple. This project, worth more than $ 20 million, included the construction of an orphanage, yeshiva, and a community center. The silver dome was restored. Near the temple opened the composition "Bird of Happiness" (sculptor I. Burganov). The pigeon's hand is complemented by a symbolic small Crying Wall made of chipped stone.

The Moscow Choral Synagogue itself - the photo shows this - is a domed building resembling a basilica. It has four prayer rooms. High arches, columns and rich decoration immediately create a joyful and solemn mood for the visitor. Particularly beautiful is the ceiling decorated with carved ornaments. The main nave is adorned with the trees of Knowledge and Life. The snow-white Aron Kodesh, striking the precious Torah scrolls behind a velvet curtain, is striking.