The Historic Podil Synagogue, Kiev, Ukraine

One of the greatest delights on our trip to Kiev and the Ukraine this past Passover was getting to know the historic Podil Synagogue in Kiev, which is part of a small compound also containing a kosher meat restaurant, a kosher breakfast, and early dinner cafe, a kosher food store, a kosher hotel, and a boy’s yeshiva. Ah yes, and there is also a matzo bakery! The synagogue has been restored to all its glory, and it was such a relief to come to a foreign city and have everything we needed at our fingertips. In the USA and Canada one can find more than enough kosher products in any major grocery store, but in the Ukraine you can’t even begin to rely on such things. And simple things like having food to take with us to the airport and for the flight home would be certainly difficult without the kosher store, phew!

With a grandfather from Kiev, our 2 nights in this really interesting city had even greater meaning for me personally, just wish I knew where they had actually lived! My grandfather’s family left the Ukraine around 1905, so they very likely lived in the country, but I really have no idea. My relatives may have even set foot in this very synagogue as it was built in 1895. Keep on reading for lots more photos…..

The Podil Synagogue, situated in Podil a neighborhood of Kyiv, is also known as the Rozenberg Synagogue and The Great Choral Synagogue. The Aesopian synagogue was built in 1895, and It was designed in Neo-Moorish style by Nikolay Gordenin. Gabriel Yakob Rozenberg, a merchant, financed the building. In 1915 the building was reconstructed by Valerian Rykov. The reconstruction was financed by Vladimir Ginzburg, a nephew of Rozenberg.

In 1929, the synagogue was closed. During the German occupation of Kyiv in World War II, the Nazis converted the building into a horse stable. Since 1945, the building has again been used as a synagogue. In 1992, Yaakov Bleich was appointed rabbi of the Jewish community of Kyiv and chief rabbi of Ukraine. Today the synagogue operates as an Orthodox synagogue both during the week and on shabbos.

Love Moorish style and was surprised to see it here in the Ukraine!

The beautiful interior.

Chandeliers and the grand balcony.
Stained glass windows.

A closer look at the Eitz Chayim painting.

The facade, clean and beautifully restored!

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