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THE GREAT SYNAGOGUE
By Yakov Hetman
The Great Synagogue was the glory of the city and
source of its pridethough not the center of its
religious life. The Jews of the city pointed from
afar to the fortifications surrounding it, to the
slope of its thick wallsbut they did not hurry
inside. It had majesty and mystery and even
ceremonybut no warmth. To the non-Jews this
was the representative synagoguebut to the
Jews it was a minor place of worship.
During the week no one prayed there, and
only on the Sabbath were its doors opened wide,
though only a few minyanim [groups of ten men
for prayer] came. The regular worshippers were
largely the common folks, and there were very
few householders (baaley batim). This was also
the only place in the city where the service was
conducted according to the Ashkenazic rite,
whereas in the rest of the places of worship they
prayed in "Sephardic" style, according to Chasidic
custom.
But in spite of this, and sometimes unconsciously,
the synagogue was the symbol of the
greatness of the Jewish community in the town
and the place for mass gatheringsin times of
trouble and sadness, festivity and mourning.
During holidays and festivals, and on those days
when the "congregation should be called together,"
people instinctively came to the Great
Synagogue.
The Great Synagogue was a brick structure of
mammoth proportions, basically square, and there
were windows about two stories high looking out
of the thick walls. Above stood an encircling parapet
with turrets in the middle, each one with two
round holes. The whole building resembled an
ancient fortress, and it was obvious to all that the
round openings served as firing slots for the
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defenders of the fort.
The synagogue was located in the center of
town, at one corner of the marketplace. Its frontthe
eastern side, facing the marketwas separated
from the market by houses belonging to the
Getman-Hetman, Natanson, and Shapiro familiesthough
the top of the synagogue looked out
above these houses and could be seen from afar.
From the three other sides, there were no
houses close to the building and it was possible
to pass close to it except for a fenced-off section
on the southern side.
The entrance to the synagogue was through
the poolish [anteroom], with doors on the north
and south. Outside, next to the southern door of
the poolish, they used to set up the chuppah on
Friday afternoons for young couples being married,
and inside the northern gate was the genizah,
where all the tattered remnants of unusable holy
books, outworn tefillin [phylacteries], etc., were
brought.
Within the poolish, on the synagogue's western
wall, was the grand entrance in the shape of
a high, broad arch resting on grand pillarsand
the heavy, double wooden door, fortified with
thick iron plates. The key to this door was no
ordinary key, but a rather solid piece of metal, a
foot long, and whoever was entrusted with it was
the classic "key keeper."
And here, precisely next to the main
entryway, one stopped momentarily to glance at
the alms box, of which we could see only the
outer metal door and the large lock that fastened
it. Secondly, one looked to see whether any non-
Jewish farmers and their families who had come
to pray to the Jewish God in times of trouble were
leaning against the wallsfor it was a known fact