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In the 1930s, Iași was hosting over 100 houses of prayer. Today there are only two functional. Most of the synagogues were arranged in simple houses, without a special architecture, due to the fast evolution of the community in the 18th century.
These were established by the gilds (bresle or professional associations), and three of them were more important: the Grand Synagogue in Târgu Cucului, the Grand Synagogue in Podu Roș and the Synagogue in Păcurari, the last two being demolished during the communist systematisation. The Jews in Moldavia were mainly Ashkenazi, followers of medieval communities from the centre of Europe, which spoke Yiddish – considered a dialect of German. In Iași the religious Hasidic current was also present, with spiritual leaders considered to be saints (tsaddikim), where thousands of Jews came for a blessing.
The story of the oldest synagogues preserved in Romania begins in the 16th century. In 1671, the Grand Synagogue was erected on the ruins of a Jewish praying place of 1580, which burnt in a fire. The word “synagogue” comes from Greek and means “to reunite”. Responsible for building this edifice was Nathan (Nata) ben Moses Hannover, Talmudist, Cabalist and historian from the area of today’s Ukraine. He studied in Prague and Venice, after which he became a Rabbi in Iași. He is known for the work “Yewen Mezulah” (1653) in which he describes the rebellion of the Kazaks of Bogdan Hmielnițki in 1648-1649 and the persecutions of Jews in Poland and Russia, managing to create a live image of that period. Hannover is considered one of the top historian of the 17th century.
Building a mosaic house of prayer in Iași wasn’t easy. Documents of the time said that no other building could be taller than the church, and synagogues couldn’t be made of stone, so the first synagogue was made of wood. In 1671, the building of a new stone synagogue was allowed, and the engineering solution was to build it a meter under the ground, in order to still be the most imposing building in the Jewish neighbourhood, as the Jewish law intended. Even more, this decision was also motivated by a psalm verse transposed into architecture: “From the deep I called for You, God”.
The architecture has eclectic influences and shows the contrast between the Baroque interior and the sober exterior. The building is remarked through the size of the dome (10m diametre), built in 1914 on the east side, with David`s star on top. We can also notice the suppleness of the windows and the doors. The building was damaged during fires and earthquakes, obtaining its current shape after 1761. In order to resist time, the synagogue was built with a metre-thick walls and shaped of stone and bricks. The entrance is made going down a few steps. Inside, the big chandeliers dominate the room and frame the pulpit. A central arch goes through the main hall, from one end to the other in the shape of a rainbow over the small benches. The niche with the holly scrolls (Aron Kodesh) is part of a wooden sculpted panel, gilded and painted, dating since 1864, in restoration. Since 2008, the Synagogue started being repaired massively, the religious ceremonies being moved in the headquarters of the Jewish Community, afterwards in the Merarilor Synagogue. In 1976, in the park in front of the Grand Synagogue, an obelisk commemorating the victims of the Pogrom was placed, and in 2015, the square received the name of “The Romanian-Israeli Friendship Square”. On the Stihii Street nearby there were in the past seven synagogues, along with other tens of houses of prayer.
Visiting hours: The building is in a final phase of renovation.
8. Synagogue des Marchands de Pommes