Kolkata: After reviving clo-cks in several churches, Kolkata Restorers — a citizen’s group that is crowd-funding the initiative — has started restoring a 140-year-old clock at Magen David synagogue at the junction of Brabourne Road and Canning Street. Magen David (Shield of David) along with Pune’s Ohel David, are among the largest synagogues in Asia. Built by Elias David Ezra in memory of his father David Joseph Ezra, a Baghdadi Jew, Maghen David represents a medley of architectural styles.
It has an Italian Renaissance design with a steeple, which is unusual for a synagogue. The story goes that the Ezra family wrote to Baghdad, the seat of Jewish learning, to ask if they could build a steeple and if it would be compatible with Jewish law (Halacha). The rabbis wrote back that there was nothing in Jewish law that said that a synagogue could not have a steeple, so they could build one but it had to be taller than the ones around it.
The interior style follows Baghdadi custom. It faces west to Jerusalem, there is a raised platform, a “bima” in the centre from where prayers are recited and there is separate seating for men and women. However, the Jews of Kolkata were cosmopolitan and the synagogue reflects this in the hybridity of styles used in its design.
The chequered floor is of Italian marble, the tall pink columns are from a stone from Mirzapur, the tiles on the floor of the ark where the sacred scrolls are kept were imported from Amsterdam. The raised iron pla.