All posts in The Synagogue

The last time we prayed at the Great Synagogue was at the end of June 1939. It was apparently Shavuot. I never again set foot in this synagogue (I was 12 at the time). When the Germans came to our town in September 1939, they first burned the contents of the Genizah. Prayers? I do not remember if […]

On Fridays and holiday eves, the cantor would stand on the stage and open his prayer with “Lechu and Renana” (Go and rejoice). The peak of the singing began with the famous piyut “Lecha Dodi”. How many melodies have been composed for this beautiful poem? It’s hard to describe. Each community and each Stiebel would play its version of […]

There are no other days like the High Holy Days in Israel, to seek forgiveness from the Almighty. On the eve of Yom Kippur, before going to the synagogue for the Kol Nidrei prayer, they used to go to each other to ask for forgiveness and especially to make up after old quarrels. The main place, […]

I knew the synagogue as a very young child, when Mr. Fasobski was the cantor. Since that moment, every Sabbath and every holyday had been dedicated to prayer in this synagogue. I do not know how much time I had to get to know Mr. Fasobski. I was just a little boy but I remember his superior figure […]

Why was cantor Zofowitch chosen? I do not know, I only know that after his election the city knew happy times and scandals. The joy came from the fact that his days of prayer became days of joy, and the scandals stemmed from the fact that not all the city’s leaders were pleased with his choice. What do I […]

Since the day father abandoned the Minsk Hasidic shtibl, we were associated whole heartedly to the Great Synagogue. This magnificent synagogue was built on the ruins of the former synagogue, which was built of wood and burned during a mysterious fire. A legend (or, perhaps, a true story) was circulating in our town that the ancient […]