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Obj. ID: 24144
Jewish Architecture
  Choral Synagogue in Samara, Russia

© Center for Jewish Art, Photographer: Levin, Vladimir, 2021

The Choral Synagogue in Samara (49 Sadovaia St.), one of the most prominent Neo-Moorish synagogues in Russia, was constructed in 1903–1908 by the Jewish architect Zelman Kleinerman, a graduate of St. Petersburg School for Civil Engineers. 

Summary and Remarks
Remarks

309 image(s)

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Name/Title
Choral Synagogue in Samara | Unknown
Object Detail
Monument Setting
Unknown
Date
1903-1908
Active dates
1908-1929
Reconstruction dates
Historical Origin
Unknown
Community type
Congregation
Unknown
Location
Russia | Samara (Самара)
| 49 Sadovaia St.
Site
Unknown
School/Style
Period Detail
Collection
Unknown |
Documentation / Research project
Unknown
Iconographical Subject
Unknown |
Textual Content
Unknown |
Languages of inscription
Unknown
Shape / Form
Unknown
Material / Technique
Material Stucture
Material Decoration
Material Bonding
Material Inscription
Material Additions
Material Cloth
Material Lining
Tesserae Arrangement
Density
Colors
Construction material
Brick
Measurements
Height
Length
Width
Depth
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Panel Measurements
Condition
Extant
Documented by CJA
No
Surveyed by CJA
Present Usage
Under reconstruction
Present Usage Details
Condition of Building Fabric
C (Poor)
Architectural Significance type
Historical significance: Event/Period
Historical significance: Collective Memory/Folklore
Historical significance: Person
Architectural Significance: Style
Architectural Significance: Artistic Decoration
Urban significance
Significance Rating
3 (National)
0
Ornamentation
Custom
Contents
Codicology
Scribes
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Number of Lines
Ruling
Pricking
Quires
Catchwords
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Direction/Location
Façade (main)
Endivances
Location of Torah Ark
Location of Apse
Location of Niche
Location of Reader's Desk
Location of Platform
Temp: Architecture Axis
Arrangement of Seats
Location of Women's Section
Direction Prayer
Direction Toward Jerusalem
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Colophon
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Group
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Decoration Program
Suggested Reconsdivuction
History/Provenance

The synagogue was closed by the Soviet authorities in 1929. The building was first used as a Jewish club named after the Third International (the Comintern), but after WWII converted into a bakery. In 1994, the building was returned to the community. Several attempts of its restoration failed, and in 2018 the eastern part of the prayer hall was demolished, apparently to prevent its collapse. Quite ironically, the almost only original part of the synagogue – besides several window frames  – is the entrance which bears the inscription “named after the Comintern.” The original wooden window frames and iron columns, which supported the women’s gallery could be seen lying near the synagogue. Currently, the building is being rebuilt

Three Torah scrolls, which are kept in the P.V. Alabin Regional Historical and Local Museum in Samara, probably originate from the Choral Synagogue. 

Main Surveys & Excavations
Sources

Beizer, Michael. Our Legacy: The CIS Synagogues, Past and Present (Moscow-Jerusalem: Gesharim - Mosty Kultury, 2002), p. 170 ill. on p. 21.

Levin, Vladimir and Anna Berezin, Jewish Material Culture along the Volga
Preliminary. Expedition Report (The Center for Jewish Art, 2021), https://cja.huji.ac.il/home/pics/projects/CJA_Report_on_the_Volga_expedition_2021.pdf (accessed June 6, 2023)

Levin, Vladimir and Anna Berezin, “Jewish Prayer in the Heart of Russia: Synagogues along the Volga,” Ars Judaica 18 (2022): 111–44, https://doi.org/10.3828/arsjudaica.2022.18.6.

Likhodedov, Vladimir, Synagogues (Minsk, 2007), ills. 144-148 on pp. 77-79.

Yantovskii, Shimon, Sud'by evreiskikh obshchin i ikh sinagog, SSSR, 1976-1987 (Jerusalem, 2003), ills on p. 327.

EE, v. 13, p. 843 with ill.;

YIVO Encyclopedia, vol. 2, ill. on p. 1820;

Evreiskii mir v pochtovykh otkrytkakh, ill. on p. 110;

http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Самарская_хоральная_синагога;

http://kompasturista.ru/?p=235;

Gitelman 1988, ill. on p. 57 (ext);

https://golema.livejournal.com/32622.html http://yivo1000towns.cjh.org/frame_viewer.asp?PictureSetID=1094&PictureSetIndex=23&ImageID=46469;

http://samcult.ru/news/16478?fbclid=IwAR2UGyJCyqqhmRBNTYI2BWgDI9JqZRDLdBvBk6s3_3mMgQjeuDpT7-v3__s

https://goskatalog.ru/portal/#/collections?id=25977437

https://goskatalog.ru/portal/#/collections?id=16257794

https://goskatalog.ru/portal/#/collections?id=16257542

Type
Documenter
Vladimir Levin, Ekaterina Oleshkevich, Ekaterina Sosensky, Anna Berezin | 2021
Author of description
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Architectural Drawings
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Computer Reconstruction
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Section Head
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Language Editor
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Donor
Dr. Betsy Gidwitz | 2021
Negative/Photo. No.
The following information on this monument will be completed:
Unknown |