Choral Synagogue of Brest
Early 20th century
Religion
AffiliationJudaism
Location
LocationBrest, Belarus
Choral Synagogue (Brest) is located in Belarus
Choral Synagogue (Brest)
Shown within Belarus
Geographic coordinates52°05′27″N 23°41′41″E / 52.0908°N 23.6946°E / 52.0908; 23.6946
Architecture
TypeSynagogue
StyleOctagonal
Groundbreaking1851
Completed1862

The Choral Synagogue or the Great Synagogue was the main synagogue in Brest, Belarus (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.[1] 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 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.[2]

Rabbis

Brest was home to a flourishing Orthodox Jewish 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.[1] Immensely popular, his yeshiva attracted prodigious Torah scholars. Rabbi Diskin was also a fierce opponent of the secular Haskalah (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.[3] His post in Brest was filled by his student,[3] Rabbi Yosef Dov Soloveitchik (the Beis HaLevi). The rabbinate would remain in his family for the next two generations, passing on to his son, Rabbi Chaim Soloveitchik,[1] and then to his grandson Rabbi Yitzchak Zev Soloveitchik, who led the community until World War II. The latter was the founder of the famed Brisk Yeshiva in Jerusalem.[4]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 Edelberg, S. "The Old Town of Brest-Litovsk: The story of the Jews in Brisk D'Lita". jewishgen.org. JewishGen. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
  2. ↑ "Брестская синагога | Сайт Бреста - BUG.BY". bug.by (in Belarusian). Retrieved 26 July 2021.
  3. 1 2 Wallach, Shalom Meir (2004). The Seraph of Brisk: Reb Yehoshua Leib Diskin. Tevunah Publishers. ISBN 9781583307083.
  4. ↑ "Yitzchak Zev Soloveithchik- The Brisker Rav". breslev.co.il. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
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