The Historic Baal Shem Tov Shul In Medzhybizh, Ukraine

On our recent trip to the Ukraine for the Passover holiday, we made sure to save a day to travel to Medzhybizh to visit the grave site of the very holy Baal Shem Tov, who lived in Medzhybizh from 1742 until his passing in 1760, and was buried there in the old Jewish cemetary. Because the Baal Shem Tov is the father of Hasidism, he has many many many “children” who come to pay their regards from all over the world. That said, the trek to Medzhybizh, in the Khmelnytskyi Oblast province in Western Ukraine, is not simple, because of its location quite a distance from airports, and because the country roads in the Ukraine are quite simply a disaster. The drive to visit the Baal Shem Tov is 4 hours from Kiev and about 6 hours from Uman, but since time seems to have stopped in Medzhybizh, so too the time one invests to travel to and from this special place seems to just melt into thin air somehow.

Today, there are several Jewish hotels in Medzyybizh, so one can certainly stay over night there, and I would highly recommend it, especially in the summer season when the countryside is lush and green. I’m dreaming of going there sometime for the holiday of Shavous, which is also the anniversary (Yarzheit) of the the Baal Shem Tov’s passing, so a very auspicious time to visit.

Lest I ramble too much, one of my very favorite places to visit is the historic replica of the Baal Shem Tov’s shul, torn down during WW II for fire wood, but rebuilt recently and they did an amazing job, as you will see…….won’t you join me?

The small aron hakodesh in the right hand corner is the spot where the Baal Shem Tov stood and prayed.

Really beautiful and a very special experience. indeed.
The entrance is interestingly enough quite small and my kids are dressed for winter because it was freezing, literally! The snow flurries made the whole experience that much more realistic.

If you would like to visit this historic spot, simply follow the signs from the main entrance of the Jewish compound next to the old cemetary. There are signs in a few languages, just keep following them down the old dirt road, turn left, and keep going, until you see this building. Not to worry, you’ll find it, and you’ll be really happy that you followed my advice!

Ah yes, and the shul was rebuilt as there were fortunately some old photos from 1915 to use as reference!