The Great Synagogue: The architecture of the building, its restoration, more precisely its preservation, and a brief history of Hasidism in Rashkov and the rabbis at the Rashkov Synagogue. We stand at the entrance to the Great Synagogue. This Rashkov synagogue is the oldest surviving in the region and was built in 1749 with funds from the "box levy" - a special type of tax in the Jewish community. It is significant that the Rashkov synagogue was first managed by one of the closest disciples of the founder of Hasidism, the Beshta. He was the first rabbi of the synagogue, Rabbi Yaakov Yosef of Polonnog, who lived a long life, and according to various sources, 72, 74 or even 80 years. Here he wrote his first book on Hasidism.In 1780 he published his work, «Toldot Yaakov-Yosef» («Birth of Yaakov Yosef»). In it he praised the new ideology and ridiculed the rabbinical and Talmudic world of today. The Shinagogue is among the 20 most beautiful surviving temples in eighteenth-century Europe. It is a monumental architectural monument created in the Baroque style, in which elements of the Romanesque-Gothic style are incorporated; the decor of the synagogue is in the Rococo style. The oval windows were decorated with white stone carvings, the doors had thin platbands and lockstones.If you look closely, you can see fragments of carved stone decorations on the walls. In one of the walls – the one on the right, not far from the entrance, there was a secret passage to the roof. It has been suggested that it was necessary for a man to climb up to the roof to summon the congregation to prayer. It is possible that the manhole was also used for technical purposes, but popular rumor attributed mystical significance to the manhole.According to legend, if a person had many sins, even being thin, he could not climb up. The passage is very narrow, and the higher one climbs, the narrower and narrower one gets. The spatial structure of the synagogue building included a main volume with a prayer hall for men and a prayer hall for women, placed above the narthex. From there the women watched the service through the windows and thus participated in it. When the service was over, the women would go home and a table would be set up for the men, where there would be a meal and where issues of community life would be decided. The synagogue also had a Torah study room-not only did people pray in the synagogue, but they also studied, which was just as important. What was the Great Synagogue built of? It was made of local shell rock using a solution of quicklime, which is said to have been infused for at least three years and to which an egg and sheep's wool were added to make it stronger. There is a belief that when the foundation was ready, the local magnate Lubomirski rode over it in a chariot – to test its strength. Going around the monument from four sides, you will see that each wall is unique in its structure and appearance. All four walls – they are completely different facades, and each is decorated differently, which makes each wall look grand.Why was this principle of construction of the Great Synagogue chosen? There is this symbolic explanation: they were waiting for the coming of the Messiah, but from which side he might come – it is unknown, we must be ready, wherever he might come from! The Great Synagogue served as the center of the spiritual life of the numerous Jewish community of Rashkov until the 1930s. The village was the seat of the Hasidic rebbes of the Rashkov dynasty. In the early 1930s, Jews dissatisfied with forced collectivization moved en masse to the right bank, where the Romanians dominated. Thus, the religious center was moved to the village of Vadul-Rashkov.The old residents of the village said that the synagogue had a tunnel that led to the other side of the Dniester. However, no one has been able to find it so far, so it is impossible to confirm this assumption. During the anti-religious campaign that was carried out here, as elsewhere in the Soviet Union, the vaults of the synagogue were blown up and damaged. It is said that the roof of the synagogue was used to cover the Kabaka movie theater in Kamenka.They tried to take some of the stone to build a farm, but they failed to dismantle the walls. In order to better preserve the Great Synagogue of Rashkov, part of the wall was cut out and removed for the Aron Kodesh, a special repository for the Torah scrolls. It was intended to be housed in the Wooden Synagogue in Chisinau, which is being restored, but this did not happen. In 2022.  Conservation work was carried out in the Great Synagogue. In 2020, the Synagogue's preservation project became the leader in the United Nations Development Program's Cultural Preservation Contest in Moldova, garnering more than 10,000 votes. After viewing the Synagogue (it may be closed), let's walk the trail from its entrance to the paved road. We turn first right and walk 10 meters to see the restoration of the Synagogue roof in the foreground and the Red Rock in the background.