After the Holocaust, the building was nationalised by Hungary’s communist government and later became a warehouse for the country’s National Széchényi Library for 80 years.
The Rákospalota synagogue in Budapest (YouTube/Jonatan Megyeri)[Missing Credit]
“When I first walked in, my heart sank,” Köves said. “There were all kinds of old newspapers. They said, ‘You want us to leave? Pay.’”
EMIH eventually succeeded in reclaiming the building and began restoring it. The renovation was supported by funds raised by Jewish American businessman Igor Tulchinsky.
The restoration also made use of AI, which analysed an old, faded photograph of the synagogue to help reconstruct elements of the building that had been lost or altered over the decades.
Members of the Dushinsky family, most of whom now live in Israel, attended the rededication. Among the guests was Istvan Seti, Hungary’s deputy state secretary for religious affairs.
Köves, 47, who was born in Hungary, said the significance of the project went beyond the restoration of a historic building.
“I saw how deeply moving it was for Jews,” he said. “It is not only that you are restoring the place. There is a feeling that something broken has been repaired.”
He said Budapest has around 15 to 20 traditional synagogue buildings that were nationalised after the Holocaust, and that he intended to work towards returning them to Jewish use.
The Rákospalota synagogue is the sixth such building to have been reclaimed by EMIH, while three others are currently undergoing similar processes.
“I think it is a disgrace that there is a city with 100,000 Jews, and today there are synagogues being used for other purposes,” Köves said. “It is our moral duty to fight for them.”
The Rákospalota reopening took place during a week of events organised by EMIH under the banner of “Synagogue Week”, celebrating the revival of Jewish life in Hungary.
During the same week, the synagogue on Dessewffy Street, belonging to the Orthodox MAOIH community, also reopened after around 15 years.
Köves said that, while most of Hungary’s Jews live in Budapest, many are assimilated or disconnected from Jewish life.
But he said that over the past two decades there had been a growing interest in Jewish identity, community and tradition, even among people who did not necessarily become strictly religious. He said that process accelerated after the October 7 Hamas attacks.
At the same time, he said the Jewish community was facing a more complicated security environment, with an increase in street-level antisemitic incidents.
He claimed his son-in-law, who lives in Budapest, had been verbally assaulted twice on public transport in recent months. Budapest police, he said, had taken the incidents seriously and identified one of the alleged attackers, a Turkish student who is expected to be expelled from Hungary.
Despite those concerns, Köves said Budapest remained a place where visibly observant Jews could live safely.
“Jews can still walk safely in Budapest while visibly religious,” he said. “Personal security here remains very strong.”
