Photograph: Atelier Herman Walter, Stadtgeschichtliches Museum Leipzig
The Ez-Chaim-Synagoge (Ez Chaim: tree of life) was consecrated in 1922. Its capacity of 1,200 seats made it the largest orthodox synagogue in Saxony. The Synagogue's construction was enabled by a substantial donation made by Chaim Eitingon, a well-known tobacco merchant.
The Synagogue's history is closely associated with the work of Ephraim Carlebach. Carlebach officiated as orthodox rabbi from 1917, but was to have to wait until 1924 before being employed on equal terms alongside Leipzig's liberal rabbi. A large proportion of Leipzig's Jews were east-European immigrants.
The worship's appeal extended beyond the confines of Leipzig's Jewish community, largely due to Nahum Wilkomirsky, the renowned cantor of the Synagogue. Born in 1885, he grew up in Lithuania. Contemporaries hailed him unanimously as "one of the greatest cantors of his time" (S. J. Kreutner). Hans Reimann's tourist guide "Leipzig. What Baedeker doesn't tell you" (1929) read: "Go in. If you're lucky, it'll be a Jewish festival and the board on the right will announce: 'Today's worship is led by Wilkomirsky'. What Rosenblatt is in New York and Fleischmann in Cologne, so is Wilkomirsky to the Jews in Laibzj." In 1936, Wilkomirsky departed Leipzig for Paris, subsequently moving to London before, in 1945, finally building a new life in the USA. He passed away, aged 69, in Oakland, California.
In accordance with orthodox Judaism, the Ez-Chaim-Synagoge had no organ and a choir consisting only of boys and men. The choirmaster from 1928 until his exile was Fabian Gonski who, as well as assisting at the Ohel Jakob Synagogue in the Pfaffendorfer Straße, also directed the Jewish choral society Hasamir (Nightingale).
The Ez-Chaim-Synagoge was destroyed in November 1938.
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Station 11, Standort Zweites Gewandhaus, Mendelssohn-Ufer / Site of second Gewandhaus, Mendelssohn-Waterside |
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ehem. Synagoge Apels Garten (orthodoxe Ez-Chaim-Synagoge) / Former Apels Garten Synagogue (orthodox Ez Chaim synagogue) (Music Trip station 12) |
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Station 13, Nikischplatz, Nikischstele / Nikischplatz, Nikisch Column |
