Obj. ID: 19459 Zarechie Synagogue in Vilnius, Lithuania
When Rabbi Israel Gintsburg (Zarecher, 1784–1857) was appointed as the moreh tsedek in Zarech’e (Užupis) suburb in 1814, he established there a yeshiva, which existed for 30 years; however, it is not clear whether the yeshiva was situated in the synagogue or at the house of Rabbi Israel.
An old synagogue in Zarech’e was destroyed by a flood and a new synagogue was built on its place in 1841. It was a one-storey brick building, with a women’s section on the north side of the prayer hall. Four round pillars supported the ceiling of the hall and it faced the street with three windows on the south. The archival drawing shows a semicircular niche at the center of the eastern wall, which perhaps indicates the placement of the Torah ark.
Since it was situated on the way to the New Jewish Cemetery in Užupis, the burial processions used to stop in the synagogue in order to eulogize respected deceased. In 1840–49 the founder of the Musar movement Rabbi Israel Salanter (1810–83) preached in this synagogue and headed a yeshiva there; in those years he formulated the basics of the Musar movement. In 1846 the synagogue was visited by Sir Moses Montefiori, who rebuked Rabbi Israel for his lack of knowledge of the language of the state.
In 1891 the community initiated the reconstruction of the building. This reconstruction, including the erection of a women’s section at the north part facing the Vilnia River, the enlargement of windows, and fencing of the plot, was accomplished within a year. In 1915 electric lighting was installed; according to a record from 1916, the synagogue served 82 regular worshippers. The synagogue is described by Chaim Grade in The Agunah; he
mentioned that a room with books “from Rabbi Israel Salanter’s time” was attached to the prayer hall. The synagogue was “seriously damaged” by 1942.102 In the Soviet period, the building was converted into an apartment house and today (2008) it is under reconstruction into a residential house.
The former synagogue’s architecture has been investigated before the reconstruction in 2006: analysis of architecture and brickwork was done by Dalia Kazlauskienė and Ričardas Račinskas and the interior’s paintings were studied by Neringa Šarkauskaitė. The research revealed some remnants of brickwork from the first half of the 19th century, arched openings, and elements of interior décor of the former synagogue: fragments of stucco
moldings, a painted frieze with fine dentils, strapwork, acanthus leaves, tendrils, garlands, and a chalice. Some Hebrew characters and a pilaster in one of the rooms have also survived, as well as the foundation of the bimah.
When the former synagogue was converted into an apartment house, a new ceiling split the hall into floors and it was divided by partition walls into several rooms. Openings were transformed, and a doorway was opened in the street façade. As a result, no distinct architectural elements of a synagogue remained on the exterior. In 2007 a design for converting the building into a one-storey residential house with exposed elements of the former synagogue was prepared. '
The synagogue underwent a reconstruction; today it is a two-storey building with a cellar, covered with a low gable roof. The façades and the interiors have been reconstructed.
(Text from Cohen-Mushlin, Aliza, Sergey Kravtsov, Vladimir Levin, Giedrė Mickūnaitė, Jurgita Šiaučiūnaitė-Verbickienė (eds.), ~Synagogues in Lithuania. A Catalogue~, 2 vols. (Vilnius, 2010-12)).
sub-set tree:
Cohen-Mushlin, Aliza, Sergey Kravtsov, Vladimir Levin, Giedrė Mickūnaitė, Jurgita Šiaučiūnaitė-Verbickienė (eds.), Synagogues in Lithuania. A Catalogue, 2 vols. (Vilnius: VIlnius Academy of Art Press, 2010-12)