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146 LUBOML
that if a horse had been stolen or the pigs died of
the plague, it was a proven panacea to come on
market day to the gate of the Great Synagogue, to
make a contribution and then kneel down and
pray.
Now we are inside, in the front part of the
synagogue, above which is the women's section,
and so the ceiling is low. Here, next to the entry,
are traces of heavy iron chains, and they said that
these were remnants of the koneh, the place
where punishment by whipping took place.
On both sides of the gate are two huge locked
wooden chests. What was inside them? This was
revealed on the night of Simchat Torah, when
hundreds of imperfect, and therefore unusable,
scrolls were taken out and used for the processions.
And another large chest stood nearby,
filled with sand and the foreskins of the children
who had been circumcised. A huge antique chair
stood thereElijah's chairon which it was customary
for godfathers to sit when a circumcision
took place in the synagogue.
Finally we are standing in the interior of the
synagogue. All around, at the height of one and a
half stories, are smooth stone walls, and above
that, at the height of the second story, high,
arched windows, in which one could see the
width of the walls, about three feet thick; and
above the windows, as if at the top of the third
floor, the curving arches of the synagogue roof,
from which chandeliers of crystal and ivory hung
down until they virtually reached the levels where
the people sat.
All around on the walls, under the windows,
and on the retaining wall of the women's gallery
on the western side, were pictures of various
A view of the Great Synagogue at the end of the 19th century. The structure to the left is the women's section.