Historic Synagogue in Ukraine Devastated in Arson Attack

by Mendel Scheiner – chabad.org

In the prayer hall, blackened books, used to start the inferno, sat in piles, their ashen pages scattered across the floor.

“We took it very hard,” said Rabbi Menachem Glitzenstein, director of Chabad-Lubavitch of Chernivtsi, Ukraine. “I took it hard; the entire Jewish community took it hard..”

Glitzenstein was referring to the Nov. 27, arson attack on a historic synagogue in the western Ukrainian city the rabbi and his family call home. The inferno has touched not only the local Jews, but a community worldwide.

The incident occurred at the famous synagogue of the Sadigura Chassidic dynasty, the Kloyz Kadisha (the Holy Synagogue). The site is a place of pilgrimage and prayer for Chassidim, and serves as a living memorial to the start of an era.

The police, who were quickly called to the scene, managed to apprehend the arsonist, a mentally unstable man who had tried setting fire to a church a month ago.

Fortunately, no one was injured. However, the holy building is heavily damaged.

A Proud Home of Chassidic History

Around 1840 the famed Chassidic master Rabbi Yisrael Friedman of Ruzhin (today Ruzhyn, Ukraine) fled the Russian Empire after being subjected to persecution and months of imprisonment at the hands of Czar Nicholas I. The rabbi and his followers headed west, eventually settling in the town of Sadigura in the Bukovina region of the Austrian Empire, where he rebuilt his court and spent 10 years. After the Ruzhiner passed away in 1850, his sons each established courts of their own, with one branch remaining in Sadigura, where four generations of rebbes of Sadigura went on to hold court.

The Rebbe of Ruzhin was renowned for his regal bearing: a royal carriage pulled by white horses, a kippah made of gold, a palatial residence and ornate synagogues. The crown jewel and center of the dynasty was the Kloyz Kadisha. Historic accounts describe vast halls and high arched windows, with an exterior of red brick and Moorish elements. It was built not so much as a synagogue, but as a castle. Biographers describe it as the largest and most magnificent building in the Chassidic world.

After Rabbi Yisrael’s passing, his eldest son, Rabbi Sholom Yosef Friedman, remained to lead the community in Sadigura. He passed away only 10 months later and the second son, Rabbi Avrohom Yaakov Friedman, assumed the mantle of leadership and became known as the first Sadigura Rebbe.

World War I effectively ended this chapter of history. In 1914, with fighting approaching the region, the Sadigura court left for the Austrian capital of Vienna, where it remained for just under three decades. The movement fled to the Land of Israel ahead of the Holocaust, where it has been headquartered ever since. Back in Sadigura, the once-flourishing Jewish community and its grand synagogue declined sharply.

Most Jews in the town were murdered during the Holocaust. Under Soviet rule, the old building was confiscated and converted into a factory, later standing derelict and empty.

After the fall of the Soviet Union, Sadigura Chassidim from around the world made a push to save the site, and a major restoration project was completed in the mid-2010s. Today, Sadigura Chassidim from Israel, Europe, and North America travel to Chernivtsi to pray in the Kloyz and visit the nearby graves of the rebbes. And while Chabad has its own synagogue and community center in another part of the city, local Jews use the Sadigura building for community events as well.

“This beautiful and dignified space has been a true partnership with the Sadigura Chasidic community,” says Glitzenstein. “They’ve generously welcomed us to hold Chabad events there, making it a vibrant center where the entire community comes together.”

Despite the attack, the Jewish community of Chernivtsi rejects the idea of antisemitism.

“In Chernivtsi,” noted Glitzenstein, “we do not feel antisemitism.”

Rebuilding from Devastation

In 2003, Glitzenstein and his wife, Pnina, came to Chernivtsi to serve as leaders of the Jewish community.

For 23 years, they have built a thriving Jewish community from the ground up. The city now boasts a kindergarten, afternoon school, student programming, Torah classes for men and women, and a kosher restaurant. Since the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine War in 2022, it has become a lifeline for displaced Jews. Thousands of refugees have passed through, receiving food and shelter, and hundreds remain there today, receiving hot meals daily. “Chernivtsi has always been a city of many nationalities, Romanians, Moldovans, Germans, Ukrainians, Jews, all living in peace,” says Glitzenstein. “We’ve significantly strengthened security at our institutions, and I’m sure that the Sadigura community will rebuild from the ashes for the community to continue the proud tradition of the Kloyz Kadisha for many years to come.”