A long-disused former synagogue in the town of Kedainiai is under renovation with EU funding for use as a cultural space. Its restoration means that Kedainiai will have three such restored synagogues — a unique situation in Lithuania.
Two, both used as warehouses after WW2, formed a shulhoyf and stand side by side on the Old Market Square. They were restored after 2000 and form a cultural complex.
The so-called Great Beis Midrash or Winter Synagogue, built in 1857, according to the catalogue Synagogues in Lithuania (in 1837 according to other sources), houses a branch of the Kedainiai Regional Museum that opened in 2002 as a multicultural center whose programs focus on the contribution of Jews and other minorities to local history. The Great (or Summer) synagogue, built around 1800, was restored and converted into an art school in 2003-2004.
The synagogue currently under restoration is the former Great Kloyz on nearby on Smilgos street, built in the 1870s, according to the Catalogue. It was long used as a shop and storehouse for building materials.
The EU and the local government allocated more than €320,000 for the renovation of the exterior of the building, with the Eu providing nearly 90 percent.
The exterior renovation was completed late last year, and interior renovation is currently under way. The aim is to create art studios and an exhibition space.
The synagogue still includes some original structural features, such as the women’s gallery. Rytis Vieštautas, the architect of Kėdainiai district municipality, told the news site 15min.lt that other to-date unknown interior features have been found, possibly including a room used for baking matzah.
Though the synagogue was used for years as a shop and storage for building supplies, a plaque was affixed to its exterior wall commemorating the Gaon of Vilna’s days in Kedainiai as a young student (which long pre-date at the town’s surviving synagogues — the Vilna Gaon, Elijah ben Solomon Zalman, lived from 1720-1797; he studied Talmud in Kedainiai as a child).
Read an article about the synagogue in 15min.lt
See documentation of the Great Kloyz by the Center for Jewish Art
See Center for Jewish Art documentation of the Great Synagogue
See Center for Jewish Art documentation of the Great Beis Midrash
1 comment on “Lithuania: a third former synagogue in Kedainiai, the former 19th century Great Kloyz, is undergoing restoration”
This is wonderful. I knew I had family from Kaunas, but didn’t know specifically where. In doing “Ancestry”, I’ve discovered my great great grandparents were from Kedainiai. I can only go back as far as the following:
Itsyk Shulman B-1847 married to Rocha Shulman B-1854
There is also a Benjamin Shulman B-1873 ??? and Rebecca Shulman, B-???
Any information that you might be able to find would really be appreciated.
What kind of jobs did they have? When did they leave Lithuania? Thank you for any answers you can provide me.