Budapest’s Century-Old Rákospalota Synagogue Reopens, Marking a Historic Jewish Revival

In a ceremony filled with historical significance, Budapest’s Jewish community celebrated the reopening and rededication of the historic synagogue in the Rákospalota district.

Built exactly 100 years ago, the synagogue has now been returned to its original religious purpose after spending decades being used as a book warehouse and storage facility by Hungary’s National Library (Széchényi).

The rededication ceremony began with davening, followed by the ceremonial arrival of a Sefer Torah and the unveiling of memorial plaques commemorating the building’s founders. Rabbis, public officials, donors, and members of the founders’ families attended the event.

From synagogue to warehouse and back to Jewish life

The synagogue was completed and dedicated in 1926, following years of work led by the community’s prominent rabbi, Rabbi Michael (Mihály) Dushinsky, who served the area for more than four decades. Fewer than 20 years after the synagogue opened, nearly 8,000 members of the community were deported to extermination camps, with only about 10% surviving.

During the communist period, the building lost its religious function and was transformed into a storage facility for newspapers and books belonging to the National Library. For decades, it remained closed and largely disconnected from the surrounding community. Rabbi Shlomo Köves, head of the Association of Torah-Observant Communities in Hungary (EMIH), discussed the building’s restoration and return to Jewish use during his remarks.

“The rededication of Budapest’s century-old Rákospalota synagogue.The rededication of Budapest’s century-old Rákospalota synagogue. (credit: COURTESY JOSH ARONSON)”

“Just a year ago, we entered this building when it was boarded up and filled with book storage. A passerby who saw us entering burst into tears, saying he had walked past the site for years on his way to the grocery store, heartbroken by the synagogue’s degradation. Today, we have proven once again: the People of Israel live, and our lives or our identity cannot be taken from us.”

The Rákospalota synagogue is the sixth historic synagogue that Budapest’s Jewish community has restored and brought back into active use during the past 16 years. The restoration followed negotiations that enabled the National Library to relocate, a renovation completed in less than a year, and substantial financial backing from philanthropists, particularly benefactor Igor Plotnikov.

A grandson returns to his grandfather’s synagogue

A notable guest at the ceremony was Rabbi Michael Dushinsky, 80, grandson and namesake of the synagogue’s founder and a former Chief Rabbi of Northern Ireland in Belfast.

In an interview, Rabbi Dushinsky described the emotional experience of witnessing the synagogue restored while remembering the suffering experienced by earlier generations.

Speaking about his grandfather and the Jewish community he served, he said, “My grandfather received his rabbinic appointment back in 1898 and established the synagogue in 1926. He was a Torah genius, very open-minded, and an ardent Zionist.

“Although the community was not entirely observant, he embraced everyone and maintained a unified, respectful Orthodox framework. He even traveled to Tel Aviv in the 1930s to officiate at the wedding of my father, who had immigrated to the Land of Israel in 1933.”

Rabbi Dushinsky recalled that he first entered the synagogue 23 years ago. “There were bookcases on all sides and local workers sitting at desks; I recited a hurried, one-minute ‘El Maleh Rachamim’ prayer right there. Today, standing here as rabbis, the community, and a sefer torah fill the space – it is a deeply moving moment.”

He also described the tension between his Zionist perspective on the historic synagogue and his feelings about the Jewish community that remains in the area. “On one hand, as a Zionist, I believe the future of the synagogues of Babylonia lies in the Land of Israel, and the pain regarding the family members who perished here is ever-present. Yet, on the other hand, hundreds of Jews have been located in the area.”

The article notes that Hungary is currently viewed as a relatively safe environment for Jews, while Jewish communities elsewhere in Europe are facing increasingly difficult circumstances.

Building a living Jewish future

Rabbi Baruch Oberlander, head of the Rabbinical Court (Av Beit Din) serving Hungary’s ultra-Orthodox communities, also spoke at the gathering alongside other rabbis. Their remarks emphasized that the restored shul is intended to function as an active center of Jewish life rather than simply as a museum or memorial to the past. Its intended roles include davening, Torah study, and education for younger generations.

The arrival of the sefer torah and the placement of mezuzahs formally ended the building’s decades-long period of inactivity. Exactly a century after the synagogue was founded, its doors reopened for Shabbos and Yom Tov davening