Great Choral Synagogue (Kyiv)

The Great Choral Synagogue of Kyiv (елика хоральна синагога Києва), also known as the Podil Synagogue or the Rozenberg Synagogue, is an Orthodox Jewish synagogue, located in the Podil, a historic neighborhood of Kyiv, Ukraine. Built in 1895, it is the oldest synagogue in Kyiv and is under the leadership of Rabbi Yaakov Bleich Chief Rabbi of Ukraine.

History
The Aesopian synagogue, built in 1895, was designed in the Moorish Revival style by Nikolay Gordenin. Gabriel Yakob Rozenberg, a merchant, financed the building. In 1915 the building was reconstructed by Valerian Rykov. The reconstruction was financed by Vladimir Ginzburg, a nephew of Rozenberg.

In 1929, the synagogue was closed. During the German occupation of Kyiv in World War II, the Nazis converted the building into a horse stable.

Since 1945, the building has again been used as a synagogue. In 1990, restoration works were launched at the initiative of the new Chief Rabbi of Kyiv and Ukraine, Yaakov Dov Bleich. A yeshiva and schools for boys and girls were established in the same building. In 1992, the synagogue officially became the property of the Jewish community.

During Rosh Hashanah 2014, a firebomb was thrown at the synagogue, without causing any significant damage.