On the first day of Hanukkah, an art exhibition titled “Portrait of a Synagogue” by Dnipro-based Jewish artist David Maltsev opened in the Gallery of the world’s largest Jewish center, “Menorah.” The exhibition is part of the Hanukkah cultural events organized by the Dnipro Jewish Community and is dedicated to the people who daily give life to the “Golden Rose” synagogue space.
The core of the exhibition is a series of portraits of congregants—people connected to this place in various ways. In their gazes, the artist intended to reflect personal histories, often filled with significant life experience and journeys traveled. These are the people one can meet daily in the synagogue; they are its integral part, those who essentially shape the living image of this space and make it what it is today.
In David Maltsev’s works, symbolic elements of the synagogue’s interior are easily recognizable, particularly the large black-grey-white arch that opens above the Aron HaKodesh—the Holy Ark, the place where Torah scrolls are kept. These details emphasize the subjects’ connection to the spiritual center of the community’s life and transform individual images into a unified artistic statement.
The artist himself notes that during the work on the portraits, a special moment of internal communion with each character arises, allowing him to capture not only external features but also the character, mood, and individual presence of a person in this place. In this reading, “Portrait of a Synagogue” becomes not a depiction of architecture but a reflection of its time—a kind of living imprint, a portrait of the space itself created through the faces of its people.
David Maltsev is well-known to the Dnipro Jewish Community. In the past, he was a student at one of Dnipro’s yeshivas, and today he is a teacher in a cheder (Jewish primary school) and an activist in the Jewish revival. As a talented artist, he has already presented his works at solo exhibitions in his hometown. Earlier in Dnipro, the opening of his studio-workshop also took place, becoming a notable event in the community’s cultural life. In his work, the artist pays special attention to Judaica and portraiture, combining artistic exploration with deep personal and spiritual experience.
The “Portrait of a Synagogue” exhibition will be open in the Gallery of the “Menorah” center throughout all the days of Hanukkah—from December 14th to 22nd. The Dnipro Jewish Community invites everyone to visit the exhibition and share in the atmosphere of Hanukkah light, art, and living human presence.
