Lazar Brodsky Choral Synagogue

Photographer Unknown

1898

Photograph of exterior of building with rounded window frames and decorative columns, and man in hat walking toward it. — The Lazar Brodsky Choral Synagogue is built in the Romanesque revival style, with elements of Moorish revival. It is known as the Brodsky Choral Synagogue because it was built on the estate of the Jewish sugar magnate Lazar Brodsky after the tsarist authorities would not allow a synagogue to be built close to Jewish neighborhoods in the center of town. It is, therefore, an example of a so-called Aesopian synagogue—a synagogue in the Russian Empire built under false pretenses. In this case the plans submitted for approval disguised the purpose of the building; instead of the house of worship eventually built, permission was requested to erect a “mansion.”

Credits

Courtesy of the Gross Family Collection, Tel Aviv.

Published in: The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, vol. 7.

Painting of the Żólkiew Synagogue

This painting exemplifies the decorative plaques that sometimes adorned the eastern walls of synagogues to commemorate the glory of the Temple in Jerusalem and indicate the direction of prayer. In…

View Source

Large symmetrical, rectangular building next to body of water.

The Largest Mill in the Orient (Postcard)

When the Allatini Mills building was built in 1898, it was considered the largest industrial building in the “Orient” (then the catch-all term for the non-European world east of Europe). The first…

View Source

Photograph of building exterior with rounded roofs

Synagogue (Subotica)

The synagogue in Subotica (today in Serbia) is the second-largest synagogue in Europe and a rare existing example of an art-nouveau synagogue. Its interior features elaborately glazed ceramics and art…

View Source

Photograph of wooden structure with two small columns of Hebrew writing with crown on top, and two sculped lions on either side.

A Fragment of the Altar of a Synagogue in Mariampol

The Torah ark in the synagogue of Mariampol was surmounted by tablets of the law flanked by rampant lions and topped with a crown, with hands making the priestly blessing. After World War II, Soviet…

View Source

Façade of symmetrical building with horizontal lines and many geometric patterns.

Elizabeth Street 10b, Riga

Elizabeth Street 10b is a stunning example of the Jugendstil style for which the buildings designed by Mikhail Eisenstein are known. The façade of this apartment building is built of brown stone…

View Source