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The Synagogues of Lodz
The diversity of Łódź's Jewish community was reflected in the architecture of the city's synagogues. The most well known houses of worship included the Altsztot, Wilker Szul, Wielka (Dajcze Szul), Ezras Izrael and Ohel Jakov synagogues.
Prayer houses
In addition to the synagogues, at different times during the development of the Jewish community, there were around 250 prayer houses. Prayer houses were regular rooms in apartments, in attics and sometimes in freestanding buildings in tenement building�s courtyards, depending on the wealth of the group that opened them. These religious spaces differentiated themselves from the majority of synagogues; they were similarly furnished, but much more modestly. In them on would have found an ornate aron ha-kodesh with the scrolls of the Torah, an embroidered parochet and a bimah-the raised platform where one read the Torah. It was in these houses of worship that Jews prayed on a daily basis and they were maintained by small groups of people who lived close by. One attended services in a synagogue on high holidays. Prayer houses were not just places for religious gatherings, but also social institutions, spaces in which business was conducted, and where one exchanged ideas and opinions and socialized. One normally attended morning prayer (shacharit), afternoon prayer (mincha) and evening prayer (ma'ariv). These "small synagogues" varied according to religious, political and professional affiliations. There were regular klojz, prayer houses, chewra�congregations and communities, and small Chassidic synagogues or halls belonging to the followers of various rabbis from, for example, Aleksandrowa, Góra Kalwaria and Sochaczew. There were also prayer houses organized according to profession (e.g. the weaver�s prayer house) or political affiliation, around which activists from various political parties and organization gathered.
Łódź also had many prayer houses that were organized by less religious families, which were less regularly attended and functioned mainly for weddings and during the high holidays such as Yom Kippur. These periodical houses of worship often rented space in theaters or philharmonics, including the English Hall on Wólczańska Street, across the street from the Ezras Izrael Synagogue.
The more important prayer houses included the Elisz Majer Krawiecki House at 25 Aleksandryjska Street, the Jakub Oszkowski, the Michał Wrżonski House at 26 Brzeziński Street, the Herman Józef Gejnzler House at 68 Długa Street, the Zalman Gliksman House at 43 Piotrkowski Street, the Wolf Ber Szpigel House at 197 Piotrkowski Street and the Moszek Icek Gamprechta House at 120 Piotrkowski Street.
The first, wooden, synagogue was erected in 1809 for the modest Jewish settlement that lived in Łódź at that time. It was built where Dworska Street met the Stary Rynek (currently 8 Wolborska Street) on a plot of land purchased from Józef Aufschlag-a lieutenant in the National Guard. Inexpensively building this small wooden synagogue was a problem, as it was constantly in need of repairs and renovations. On top of this, a major construction disaster befell the project in the mid 1840s, killing several people.
Not far from the synagogue, the Jewish community built the Beth haMidrasz School, part of which was set aside to house Łódź's rabbi; this building was torn down in the 1860s. In 1854, the synagogue was officially closed because of fears that it would simply collapse. Unofficially, however, services were held there until 1861.
Altshtot Synagogue
The rapid growth of the Jewish community forced it to build a new more solid, i.e. not wooden, synagogue. Jan Karol Merschling designed the new structure and construction began in 1859. It was also located on Wolborska Street. This brick building was built in a neo-mannerist style, and was eventually called the Altshtot Synagogue. It was partially finished by 1871, though services started to be held in it already in 1861. It was remodeled between 1897 and 1900 according to a design by Adolf Zeligson, who continued the oriental theme of both the façade and interior. This house of worship also suffered a building catastrophe, which occurred in 1863. The slow pace of work was the result of a financial crisis that touched Jewish community of Łódź at the time. This down turn was directly reflected in the provisional state of what would become the new synagogue and the neglected state of the city�s original wooden synagogue.
Next to the synagogue under construction, a new Bet-haMidrasz opened, in which one also found the religious Talmud-Tora school. The Jewish community was responsible for the synagogue on Wolborska Street, which was situated in a poor Jewish neighborhood. For these reasons, building and furnishing the building took a long time, and exceeded the financial means of the community. In spite of this, the Alshtot Synagogue on Wolborska Street, with its oriental themed architecture, became a building associated with Łódź.
Great Synagoge Dajcze Szul
The Great Synagogue, situated at the intersection of Promenadowa (currently Kościuszki Street) and Zielona was opened in 1887; it was alternatively known as the German synagogue. The latter moniker is linked to the ideas of the Haskalah�the Jewish Enlightenment, what made its way from Germany to Łódź in the 1840s. Influenced by these ideas, a group of so-called maskils, i.e. enlightened Jews, began to spread the ideas of the Haskalah. The group, initially linked to the Icek Zajdeman prayer house, was comprised of leading industrialists, wealthy merchants and members of the Jewish intelligentsia, including Dawid Lande, and Mryc and Samuel Zandlowie.
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With the rapid growth of Łódź's economic power and the spread of progressive ideas, it soon became clear that a synagogue had to be built. The synagogue was formally owned by the Jewish Synagogue Society, which developed into the Synagogue Members's Assembly that was populated by its largest sponsors. Izrael Kalmanowicz Poznański initially headed the assembly. One's seat in the synagogue, which could be both inherited and leased, determined one's dues, which in turn determined one�s position in the synagogue's organizational structure. The synagogue�s rabbis finished both rabbinical and university studies, and included the likes of Dr. Izrael Jelski-who was known in Łódź as a Zionist activist, and Dr. Marku Braude-who was a remarkable orator. The so-called progressives of the Jewish community were involved in building the synagogue; this circle included wealthy industrialists, bankers, merchants and leaders of the so-called "free professions." Adolf Wolff, from Stuttgart, drew up the plans of the Great Synagogue. The rich interior's numerous layers of polychrome and mosaics, which covered the vaults and the walls, made a strong impression on those who saw it.
The Great Synagogue was also referred to as the Reform or Progressive Synagogue, and it operated beyond the purview of the religious community's Synagogue Supervisory Authority. Those who attended services at the Great Synagogue wore European dress, spoke Polish and generally differentiated themselves from the poorer, Orthodox community in both their customs and habits. Manufacturers, merchants and bankers, including Izrael Poznański, Szaja Rosenblatt, Herman Kronstadt, Markus Silberstein, Jakub Sachs, attended services there. Concerts and celebrations of national holidays were also held in the synagogue.
Wilker Szul Synagogue
Daniel Dobranicki and Dawid Prussak built the impressive Wilker Szul Synagogue from 1875 and 1878 at 56 Zachodnia Street (currently 70 Zachodnia Street). The name came from the fact that the house of worship of built on site of the former town of Wilki. The largest house of learning�bes medresz�was located next door. In 1903, an addition was built under the direction of Gustaw Landar Gutenteger. Formally, the synagogue was private, though it was used by the Jewish community as the second synagogue in the Nowy Miasto. It was frequented mainly by leaders of the upper and middle classes of the Jewish community.
Ohel Jakow
In 1899, the small Ohel Jakow synagogue was built on Długa Street (currently 18 Gdańsk Street). Wolf Jedlicki had it built on his own land according to plans drawn up by Gustaw Landau Gutenteger. It was originally built to hold one hundred people, religious Jews from the surrounding neighborhood. During the interwar period, it is was linked with the Zionist Organization. Leading Łódź Zionists met there, including Jeszaja Ugier, Jerzy Rosenblatt, Dawid Tafel, and Aron Luboszycki. The Jews who gathered around Ohel Jakow underwrote the Zionist cause, creating among other things the Bank Depozytowy at 5 Piotrkowski Street, schools and the orphanage Dom Sierot in Helenówek, which at that time was just outside of Łódź.
Ezras Izrael
In 1881, Jews started to arrive in Łódź from the lands of the Russian Empire after a series of pogroms. These so-called Litwacy (i.e. "Lithuanians," though it referred to Jews who arrived from the lands east of Poland) started building a synagogue in 1899 and finished it in 1904; it stood at 6 Wólczańska Street. Though officially known as the Ezras Izrael synagogue, it was colloquially referred to as the Lithuanian and the Volhynia synagogue. The Ezras Izrael organization ran the synagogue, which was formally legalized in 1927. This association opened and maintained prayer houses and religious schools, and supported and ran charity efforts for Łódź's poor. The man behind Ezras Izrael was the merchant Chaim Salomon Rozental.
Four well-known Łódź synagogues were destroyed between November 10-14, 1939. Empty squares took their places, e.g. the square with the taxi stand at the intersection of Kościuski and Zielona Streets.
Religious schools (yeshivas) operated under the auspices of synagogues and larger prayer houses. The well-known schools in Łódź included the yeshiva at 30 Zachodnia Street that was run by the tzaddik from Aleksandrów. Religious life was not limited to synagogues and prayer houses; one must also look to places such as the one story buildings that stood in the courtyards at 46 and 114/116 Piotrkowska Street. The freestanding buildings in the courtyards of 32 Zgierska Street and 4 Graficzna Street, which was later expanded to include a cheder, also served as places of prayer. The former is now an apartment building. The only surviving synagogue is located at 28 Rewolucji 1905 Street (formerly Południowa Street). It was a private synagogue built by the merchant Wolf Reichert in the courtyard of a tenement house. Used as a salt warehouse during the war, it currently belongs to the Jewish Religious Community.
Jewish Schools
Religious schools (i.e. cheders and yeshivas) functioned for either congregations or private synagogues. Jewish religious education got its start thanks to the investments of the Jewish bourgeoisie, especially during this class�s largest period of expansion from the second half 19th century until the outbreak of World War I. The Konstadt, Jarociński, Silberstein, Poznański Wulfshon, Barciński and Rosenblatt families were particularly important backers of the development of Jewish educational institutions. During this expansion, twelve elementary schools, as well as the professional school Talmud Tora, were founded. In 1912, thanks to Rabbi Maks Brand, the first Jewish high school was opened.
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