Built around 1897, the synagogue in Medias, in south Transylvania — one of the “seven fortresses” or Siebenbürgen, settled by Saxons — could seat around 1,000 people. The Jewish community survived World War II, but migrated en masse to Israel, leaving the empty synagogue to decay. The synagogue complex also included the Rabbi’s house, community offices, a Jewish school and a mikvah.
A long-standing project to restore the building as a cultural center gained new momentum in the summer of 2014. See our JHE report on this.
What is the status of the synagogue renovation as of October 2016.? As a child I lived in Medias till 1959 when our family left.for France I remember the Shul , which I attended, there was Minyan weekdays and Shabbat , the courtyard next to it, a smaller room off the main sanctuary where several boys, myself included, had daily classes in Chumash (Bible) taught by a melamed after we returned from public school. My maternal grandfather, who passed away ibefore I was born was the rabbi of the community for many years. His name was Moshe Reich.
Do you have any information on condition of local Jewish cemetery , where both my grandfather and grand mother ( died in 1953) ) are buried ?
I will ask for specific news, but if you are on Facebook, you should like the Medias Synagogue Facebook page, which has fairly frequent updates. https://www.facebook.com/sinagogamedias/?fref=ts