The large stone synagogue was built in Brest in 1861, at that time Brest was one of the important centres of the Jewish community of Belarus. Today, there is a cinema "Belarus" in the building of the synagogue.

Synagogue means "school" in Hebrew. It is a building, where the Holy Scripture was studied. Brest is one of the centres of Jewish history and culture in Belarus. The story of the Jewish community in our country begins in Brest, because in 1388 the Jews of Brest were given the privilege of freedom of religion and trade. Until the second half of the XVII century Brest was the main centre of the Jewish community of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Since the XVI century the Jews have been given the right to elect rabbis. In 1514 Brest rabbi Michal Jozefovič became the senior rabbi of the Jews of the GDL, and his brother Abram Jozefovič became the treasurer (finance minister) of the GDL. A yeshiva opened in Brest in the XVI century, and since then Brest has also been known as the centre of the Jewish education. In the XIX century representatives of the Jewish community constituted a large part of the population of Brest. In the city there were 16 houses of worship and the large stone synagogue, which was built in 1861 by the Viennese architect Joseph Kornhäusel. In the post-war soviet times the synagogue was turned into a cinema.

Publication date: 15.07.2019.

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