Restorationof Saint Petersburg's
Grand Choral Synagogue

The synagogue is located at 2 Lermontovsky Prospect
Services are held in the Grand Hall on Saturdays and holidays at 9:30 a.m., and in the Small Synagogue on weekdays at 10 a.m., 4 p.m., and after sunset, and on Saturdays at 10:30 a.m. and 1 p.m

What makes St. Petersburg so different is that its Jewish community escaped Nazi genocide. The synagogue, miraculously, lacks the haunting emptiness of its counterparts in Poland or Hungary. With the breakup of the USSR, the Jewish communities of the FSU have awoken from a deep slumber, as thousands seek to rediscover their heritage.

Very much in use, the synagogue houses a day school and a library The Grand Hall often hosts concerts of well-known cantors from the United States, Israel and Canada. The red-brick Small Synagogue is used for everyday worship; Torah and Hebrew lessons take place in the adjacent Yeshiva, which also provides meals for Jewish pensioners.

After the Russian authorities had agreed in principle to the building of the Grand Choral Synagogue in 1869, it took them 5 years to approve of a site.

The great dicotomy of a people "permitted but undesired", is symbolized in the placing of that monumental building in a suitably unobtrusive location. Set back from the road, it stands discreetly just off the main thoroughfare, its corkscrew-ribbed cupola poking above the rooftops on the corner of Lermontovski prospect

After much discussion about design, it was decided that the building should be in the Moorish style which was then popular throughout Central Europe . The main entrance is a Moorish archway, like a giant horseshoe flanked by elegant minarets. The mass of stucco squinches and stalactite mouldings in the yellow and white decoration, is a combination of local taste and Moorish motifs

The famous V. V. Stasov was an art critic, art historian, archaeologist, public figure, honorary member of the St.Petersburg Science Academy He worked with an architectural team that managed to preserve a design acceptable to Russian authorities and to the Jewish community. The building was designed by Russian architect Shaposhnikov; - but the interior was the work of Jewish architect Bachman - the first Jewish graduate of the Arts Academy in Russia.

Thus, despite its exterior exoticism, the synagogue has a traditional interior arrangement. The aron ha-kodesh is at the eastern wall - though, in fact, Jerusalem is located to the south.

A Mixed Blessing

The Synagogue was consecrated in 1893 - but no sooner was the ceremony over than the Russian authorities ordered all Jewish meeting houses in the city closed - in order that they be moved to the newly completed synagogue.

Even with a capacity of 2,000 people, the new synagogue was inadequate to the needs of all of St. Petersburg's 15,000 Jews.

Restoration

Restoration of the Synagogue started in 1998. Thanks to the gracious patronage of Lily and Edmond Safra, it has been restored to its former glory.