Oni Synagogue

The Oni synagogue stands in the centre of the town on Vakhtang VI Street and catches the eye from afar: a square building of white limestone with a tall dome whose top is crowned by a many-pointed Star of David. The house of prayer was built in 1895 in an eclectic, Moorish Revival style and is said to have been planned after the Great Synagogue of Warsaw, destroyed in the Second World War: the moving spirit of the building, Rabbi Elia Amshikashvili, had studied in Warsaw. In size it is the third in Georgia after the synagogues of Tbilisi and Kutaisi. Above the entrance are a marble slab with a Hebrew inscription and Stars of David, and on the east wall, the side turned towards Jerusalem, the Ten Commandments are carved. Inside are a carved wooden ark, chandeliers and old Torah scrolls; with its arched windows, brick decoration and wooden fretwork the building unites Georgian, Romanesque and Moorish elements.

The synagogue is the centre of one of the oldest communities of Georgian Jews: Jews have lived in Oni since the early Middle Ages, and at the end of the nineteenth century the community numbered in the hundreds and shaped the trade of the town. From 1903 Rabbi David Baazov served here, the leader of the Zionist movement among Georgian Jews, who opened two Jewish schools in Oni; his son Herzel Baazov was a writer and public figure. In 1972 the synagogue had 3,150 congregants, but the emigration of the 1970s and 1990s, mostly to Israel, reduced the community to a few families: in 2015 there were 16 congregants left. The synagogue nevertheless stays open, looked after by the community's caretaker.

On 7 November 2006 the synagogue received the status of an immovable cultural monument of national significance. The old Jewish cemetery of Oni is in the same town, and the second hearth of Jewish heritage in Racha-Lechkhumi is the village of Lailashi in Lechkhumi.

The Jewish community of Oni is one of the oldest among Georgian Jews: by tradition Jews have lived in Racha since the early Middle Ages, and in the nineteenth century much of the trade of Oni was in their hands. The idea of a new synagogue belonged to Rabbi Elia Amshikashvili, who had been educated in Warsaw; by one account the building was led by Polish engineers and Greek masters from Thessaloniki, and by another the money came in part from the firm of the Nobels, the oil industrialists of Baku and Batumi. The building was consecrated in 1895. From 1903 the rabbi of Oni was David Baazov, who opened two Jewish schools in the town and stood at the head of the Zionist movement of Georgian Jews.

In the 1920s the Soviet authorities ordered the synagogue demolished: as the story is told, Amshikashvili locked himself inside with his family, Jewish and Georgian women surrounded the building, and it was saved. Through the Soviet decades the community grew, counting 3,150 congregants in 1972, but the repatriation of the 1970s and the emigration of the 1990s carried it almost entirely to Israel. The Racha earthquake of 29 April 1991 damaged the building severely; in 1995 it was restored with the help of the Georgian government and the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, and President Eduard Shevardnadze attended the rededication.

On 7 November 2006 the synagogue received the status of a monument of national significance. On 2 September 2015 the community marked its 120th anniversary, with Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili at the ceremony; the congregation then numbered 16. The synagogue remains open to this day as the meeting place of the Jews of Oni, their descendants from Israel and travellers.

Oni is about 230 kilometres and four hours from Tbilisi by way of Kutaisi and Ambrolauri, and about 110 kilometres from Kutaisi; marshrutkas run from the Kutaisi bus station and from Tbilisi. The synagogue is in the town centre at 53 Vakhtang VI Street, a few minutes on foot from the Oni museum. The building is opened by the community's caretaker, whom the neighbours will find for you; entry is free, a donation is welcome, and men cover their heads. The façade can be seen at any hour.