JEWISH WATERFOUNTAINS, SHUMEN

In the 1830s the old wooden Sephardi synagogue in Shumen became too small for the congregation. It was decided to construct a new one, but this led to a rift in the community. The more elderly wanted a simple, cheap building while the younger Jews favoured a large, modern and expensive one. Following protracted debates those who supported the expensive project gained the upper hand. The new synagogue of Shumen was officially consecrated in 1860. 

The synagogue survived for the next 130 years until its demolition in the 1990s. 

Next to nothing remains of Shumen's once rich Jewish legacy. After the Jews emigrated to Israel in the late 1940s their synagogue was used as a warehouse and then as art studios. There were projects to modernise it and convert it into a concert hall, but none ever materialised. In 1975 it was listed as a monument of culture, but the years of neglect and decay had already taken their toll. In 1995 the synagogue collapsed. 

The only remains of Shumen's synagogue are two embroidered parochets for the Aron Ha-Kodesh, donated in 1964 to the Sofia Synagogue, and two 19th century stone water fountains. These are now located at the side of the Shumen Museum of History, facing Karel Shkorpil Street.

One of them came from the yard of the synagogue, where it was placed by Gabbai Yomtov Shmuel in 1902. It bears an inscription: "To everyone thirsty for water." The second fountain used to stand beside the Jewish school and has two clasped hands carved into the stone. It was dedicated to Baron Hirsch, the great benefac- tor to Shumen's Jewry, upon his death in 1896. It says: "Every Jew is responsible for another Jew."