Historic Ukrainian synagogue set on fire


Investigators said the same individual attempted to ignite a church in the area about a month earlier. 

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

A historic synagogue tied to the Sadigora hasidic community in Chernivtsi, Ukraine, was badly damaged after a man described by authorities as mentally unstable set the building ablaze on Thursday evening.

Local police detained the suspect soon after the fire began, bringing an end to an incident that unsettled Jewish residents in a city where community leaders say relations with neighbors are typically calm.

Early findings indicate the man entered the Kloiz Kaddisha, located in the Sadhora district, during a brief moment when the guard on duty was not present.

Investigators said the same individual attempted to ignite a church in the area about a month earlier.

The fire at the synagogue was brought under control, but images circulating among community members showed damage to a site considered central to the heritage of the Sadigora dynasty.

Rabbi Menachem Glitzstein, the city’s rabbi and a Chabad-Lubavitch emissary, described the blaze as deeply distressing.

He called the building “one of the most important structures in the world of hasidism” and emphasized that the attack does not reflect broader attitudes in Chernivtsi, Arutz Sheva reports.

He told Jewish institutions in the city receive consistent security support and that local authorities cooperate closely to prevent acts of antisemitism. “All residents here live in brotherhood and peace,” he said.

The Kloiz Kaddisha underwent an extensive restoration roughly a decade ago, nearly 180 years after it was originally constructed by Rabbi Israel of Ruzhin, founder of the Sadigora dynasty.

The structure had fallen into disuse after World War I, when events in 1914 forced the community to abandon its spiritual center. For four generations, Sadigora leaders directed their court from the synagogue, which has been described in hasidic literature as among the grandest of its era.

Ukrainian authorities have opened a formal investigation into the fire while community members assess the damage to a landmark that has stood at the heart of their religious life for nearly two centuries.