If I thought Poland had few Jews, Ukraine had even less. We stopped at this synagogue, which is beautifully restored, but in many ways lifeless. Instead of congregants, the synagogue has a caretaker. There is indeed a rabbi, and they were very welcoming about letting us tour. The rabbi's wife even invited us to have Shabbat dinner with them if we were going to be in town (which we were not--that would have been a great experience). So they are not stand offish.
It is just that they are largely no longer there. Instead there is someone who lives in the synagogue. Which is by no means designed to be a primary abode. There is not even a kitchen--the caretaker has a microwave and a hot plate snuggled behind a partition that functions as their food preparation arena. I did not even ask about showers. I did not want to know. The caretaker lives there and makes sure that the restoration and the building remain safe.
It is a weird paradox. There is preservation of the past, but I did not get the sense that it was being done for those who remain in Ukriane. If it was done with that in mind, it is a failure, because the synagogue feels unused, musty, pews pile up in the back never to be unstacked. It accurately reflects the grand past that Jews experienced in Ukraine, but their present there is so sad that it is almost more painful that seeing a ruin.
If I thought Poland had few Jews, Ukraine had even less. We stopped at this synagogue, which is beautifully restored, but in many ways lifeless. Instead of congregants, the synagogue has a caretaker. There is indeed a rabbi, and they were very welcoming about letting us tour. The rabbi's wife even invited us to have Shabbat dinner with them if we were going to be in town (which we were not--that would have been a great experience). So they are not stand offish.
It is just that they are largely no longer there. Instead there is someone who lives in the synagogue. Which is by no means designed to be a primary abode. There is not even a kitchen--the caretaker has a microwave and a hot plate snuggled behind a partition that functions as their food preparation arena. I did not even ask about showers. I did not want to know. The caretaker lives there and makes sure that the restoration and the building remain safe.
It is a weird paradox. There is preservation of the past, but I did not get the sense that it was being done for those who remain in Ukriane. If it was done with that in mind, it is a failure, because the synagogue feels unused, musty, pews pile up in the back never to be unstacked. It accurately reflects the grand past that Jews experienced in Ukraine, but their present there is so sad that it is almost more painful that seeing a ruin.
You need to know more of the communities history before you post such comments. Much of the community emigrated to Israel. The Rabbi and his wife have been there 22 years. They also run a good sized school for children. There were I think 126,000 Jews before the war and a minuscule amount after the war.
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