Rolling into Prague, glimpses of the bridges and the expertly preserved architecture provided a peek into the quintessential European city. Shalmi provided a backdrop for the beautiful churches and cathedrals we were seeing.
Pictures from Prague
The last war fought in Prague was the Thirty Years War, 1618-1648. The Catholic Austrians beat the Protestant Czechs, and Prague submitted herself to a counter-reformation. This had two consequences, among others, that still ring true today: 1) The Czech are notoriously non-religious. Prague might appear like a very Christian city, and one that would certainly attract a certain dedicated practice because of the beautiful baroque architecture. Yet the Czechs resented the counter-reformation that took place. These Churches are therefore used for concerts and other social events. 2) The Czechs are committed to saving their beloved city of Prague. Even the Nazis were able to storm in without a shot being fired and take the city during their invasion of Czechoslovakia. Saving the city became paramount, and as a result has preserved its unique and authentic character.
Pictures from Prague
The last war fought in Prague was the Thirty Years War, 1618-1648. The Catholic Austrians beat the Protestant Czechs, and Prague submitted herself to a counter-reformation. This had two consequences, among others, that still ring true today: 1) The Czech are notoriously non-religious. Prague might appear like a very Christian city, and one that would certainly attract a certain dedicated practice because of the beautiful baroque architecture. Yet the Czechs resented the counter-reformation that took place. These Churches are therefore used for concerts and other social events. 2) The Czechs are committed to saving their beloved city of Prague. Even the Nazis were able to storm in without a shot being fired and take the city during their invasion of Czechoslovakia. Saving the city became paramount, and as a result has preserved its unique and authentic character.
On our way to the Hraczany Castle, the governmental district, we passed a square and boring looking hotel called the Inter-Continental. The building was from the Communist period, and built on the site of a Synagogue called the Tzigorno, or Gypsies. Here Franz Kafka had his Bar Mitzvah, about a block from the Altneu Shul. Shalmi loved to describe Kafka as the father of Holocaust literature, knowing that he preceded the Holocaust, because of his absurd style of writing, and the corresponding absurdity that people dealt with as they struggled through, recorded and reflected on the Holocaust.
At about this time I collected a slew of Czech Krowns (about 17/ US Dollar), now having accumulated four currencies in my wallet: dollars, sheckels, krowns, and euros for Germany.
We arrived at Strahovsky Kaster, a church/ library where monks copied and censored books. Strahov literally means “guards,” but the guards were really monks returning from the Crusade. This was a division of feudal society. As we continued on the cobblestone path, the street opened up into courtyards with lamps from the Middle Ages, and structures in Rennaisance, Baroque and Gothic style. Eventually we arrived at the current President's Office, but former castle premises, with parts from the 12th Century. The Castle was eventually finished by Queen Terezin in the 19th Century. Don't criticize, but this was my second visit and these details hadn't stuck the first time, so my notes weren't as focused as normal. Apologies.
Thursday night I caught up with Dara, a Muhlenberger who a year ago was building houses with me in New Orleans, and was now studying abroad in Prague. She showed me around town, pointing out fried cheese, a popular item on the fastfood menu, as well as the main Welceslas Square. I met up with some of her friends at a bar on a small island designated as a dog park. Obviously then, the bar allowed dogs. Looking through the thick smoke in the room, I found dogs on peoples laps, and a ceiling that was a giant mattress. Really cool place. Then I took the metro back, descending what felt like miles under Prague on extra long escalators. I had already experienced more culture here than in Budapest.
Friday morning, after an EXCEPTIONAL breakfast buffet, complete with omelet bar and mini jelly doughnuts, we devoted the day to the “Jewish Museum” or Jewish district of Synagogues and sites saved from destruction (along with the rest of Prague).
We began in one of my favorite places, the ancient and outstanding Altneu Shul. Pieces of the structure are as old as 1270, built by non-Jewish Germans for the Jewish German community of Prague (Jews weren't allowed to build, and signature marks on the stones matched with those of nearby Churches indicated the artisan). Considering the date, this structure predates the Jewish traditional world views of practice of Ashkenaz and Sepharad. When we get inside you'll see how. From the outside we discussed why such a place came to be called old and new (that's what Altneu means). According to Shalmi, this wasn't the first Synagogue, so it was first known as the New one. As others popped up it became known as the Old-New. Check out Shalmi in action!
There are some Jewish interpretations of the name being a play on Hebrew “Al Tnai,” meaning “on the condition,” that either the Prague Jews pay a special tax or that they return pieces of the building, believed to be from Jerusalem, back to the source when the Third Temple is built. The former isn't valid simply because Jews were always paying taxes, and would do so regardless. The latter position might have been a retelling of a Christian view that Crusades brought back sacred objects from the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
The building is authentically and genuinely Gothic, with two stone columns inside, and buttresses along the outside. Some of the structure is as old as 1270, but other additions and changes were made. For example, were women included in Jewish worship here at the end of the 13th Century? Did they pray with the men? There was no women's section originally, and you can tell because the addition partially covers the windows of the main sanctuary.
Other unknowns about the Synagogue include two large box-shaped cells in the “lobby” area. Theories include a collection box for taxes that were gathered by the King twice a year, and a prison because the Synagogue also served as the court. There are holes between the cell and the sanctuary, so if someone was in there they would be able to hear the prayers.
As we waited to enter, Shalmi summed up the three major contributions of Prague Jewry to the Jewish world:
- Star of David as a Jewish symbol- Gershom Scholem wrote an article dating the symbol's connotation back to the 16th Century. (Until this point, the symbol was only used on grave stones for people named David.) The leader of the community was allowed to hoist a flag to represent the community, and had to decide on an image. He decided on the symbol used by the first Jewish publishing company north of the Alps, belonging to the Hacohen Family, as early as 1526. The Jewish Star.
- Israel's National Anthem- The music of Israel's anthem comes from a Prague melody.
- Illustrated Haggadot first began here (actually unclear if illustrated or illuminated, meaning printed or drawn).
Once inside the Altneu Shul, meaning somewhat underground to add height to the ceiling, we discussed the layout of the sanctuary. The space predates the separation of Ashkenazic and Sephardic Jewish traditional schools of thought. The bima, or podium is in the center of the room and the seats face eachother. These are Sephardic characteristics of Synagogues. However, there is also an indented space in the front of the sanctuary, next to the Ark, derived from the verse "ממעמקים קראתיך”, “from the depths I call you.” This is Ashkenazic tradition. We discussed the likely reality that Jews at this period were probably looking at churches for architectural and structural influence.
The Ark has Gothic and Romaneque carving, the arches on the ceiling are in numerals of five to distinguish from Churches, and all around the walls are plainly painted Hebrew abbreviations of verses and social statements. For example:
גהא ימה- גדול העונה אמן יותר מן המברך
The person who answers Amen is greater than the reciter of the blessing.
סור מרע ועשה טוב- "סמו"ט
The person who answers Amen is greater than the reciter of the blessing.
סור מרע ועשה טוב- "סמו"ט
There is also a note that the walls were whitewashed because there had been a pogrom and there was (and still is under the paint) blood on the walls.
The women issue remains unresolved because in places like Cordoba women prayed with men early on, but in other places women didn't pray at all. It remains a mystery whether women participated at the time of this Synagogue's construction.
We moved on to Maisel Synagogue, named after a wheat trader who's business with Krakow fed Prague. Originally built in the Renaissance, the structure was later redone in the Gothic style. What's significant about this place is that housed in the attic are rows and rows of candelabra, mezuzot, yad pointers for Torah reading, each with a number corresponding to a list detailing original ownership. During World War II, the Nazis intended to make a Jewish museum documenting the history of an extinct race. Neither happened. Meanwhile in Prague, I don't remember if the Jews had begun a project of their own, or as a result of the persecution of World War II, but a major campaign was launched to collect and preserve significant Jewish artifacts from all over, and the Nazis allowed the Jews to curate this museum in Prague. One would ask why the Nazis wouldn't intervene to promote their propaganda and their views of the Jewish people.The answer is that the Nazis believed that allowing the Jews to be themselves would only further support their theories. There would be no need to embellish the image. Just as with a bad student, giving the student a project wouldn't require any additional strategy to validate an opinion of character.
There were three exhibits at the Jewish Museum during the Holocaust, but who saw them? Only one Nazi group. Only one of the Jewish curators survived.
In 1994, Prague returned the Jewish area of Josefov to the Jewish Community, and the day after, an El Al flight landed with the Israeli Minister of Education, Zevulun Hammer, intending to collect the artifacts and take them back to Israel. The Jewish Community of Prague refused to hand over the objects, saying that these items are all that remain of their community. Hammer responded harshly, by questioning their Judaism. They remarked that their Jewishness was defined by their guardianship of this legacy. Consequently, the Museum has a particular dislike for Israelis. Nevertheless, a legitimate question of ownership arises. There is a story of a Czech librarian, who corresponded with his son during the war while he worked in the Museum. When his son came from Israel and was informed of a box in the attic filled with the letters he wrote his father, he was in disbelief. But when he went to pick them up and take them, he was told that they were no longer his, and by state law the letters belonged to the Czech Republic and the Jewish Community.
Next we went to the Pinkhas Shul, passing by the Hevre Kadisha building; the site where the Nazis ordered the [assimilated] Jews of Prague to meet and register, in accordance with the Nuremberg Laws. These people had no idea why they were being asked to do this, and only very slowly did they realize that everyone around them was Jewish too.
The Pinkhas Synagogue was built with a section for women, and used as a Neolog Synagogue until the War. Following the Holocaust, a survivor returned to Prague with the dream of creating a memorial for the Jews who were lost. Specifically the Jewish victims of Bohemia and Moravia were excellently documented by the Nazis on their way to Terezin. This then, I believe, was not only one of the first Holocaust memorials, but it was probably the first to include names, let alone a complete list of names. They run along the walls, arranged alphabetically by location and name, including dates. Finished in 1959, the site was neglected by the state, the names peeled, and there were even speculations that the Russians white-washed the place out of anger with Israel. So after the Nazis destroyed the memory, and the Communists erased the memory, it was again painted and preserved in 1994.
Behind the Pinkhas Synagogue is the famous old Jewish Cemetery, noted in the Protocols of the Elders of Zion. Used from the 15th Century through the 1780's, the plot contains around 12-14 layers, including the Maharal, Rabbi Loew, Maisel, and Cordovero, a Shabbatist (Shabbatism was very popular here). You can see the Star of David on stones for people named David, as well as the absence of separation between men and women. In contrast, Hasidic communities bury men and women separately. There was also an isolated section, where presumably thieves and victims of suicide were buried. Here Shalmi discussed traditions at the Maharal's grave:
As we continued on the path, Shalmi's speeches began to hold up groups from all over...
After a short stop at the Franz Kafka Cafe (not recommended), the last place we visited formally before getting ready for Shabbat, would also be the place where we would attend Friday night Shabbat services. The Spanish Synagogue was built in the 1860's, in the Modern style, for the emancipated Jewish Community (emancipated in 1867). The only Spanish thing about it is the neo-Moorish style. This was a Synagogue you went to to be seen in, like the Dohany. There was split seating and an organ. The art, though, is something else.
We returned to the hotel to prepare for Shabbat. I made arrangements for students to perform a religious ritual of lighting candles, and following some odd looks by the receptionist, I led some students through the spa to the outdoor pool. We lit two candles on a chair and carefully protected the delicate flames from the wind.
When we came back to the Spanish Synagogue for services, we joined a group called "Beit Praha," consisting of people who had recently moved to Prague. In following their service, I was suddenly struck by the emptiness of the space, as the sounds of our voices further affirmed the absence of others. I had led services here before, when I was on Muss, but I didn't recall the acoustics being this terrible. If sounded like you were in a cathedral. Words weren't coherent, only tones. There was a Gershwin concert coming up on the calendar, and a USB device in the gift shop, shaped like a Golem with the three Hebrew letters on its forehead. I was reminded of the visit to the Synagogue in Arazane, Morocco, where we revived a religious site by using it for what it was built for, but all the while nostalgically and symbolically.
Friday night dinner was a meal to forget, in a Kosher restaurant.
Saturday we prayed in the Altneu Shul, the women got to experience following a service from the other side of a wall, and then we ate a much better meal at another local Kosher place. We walked along the Charles Bridge and discussed the famous statue of the crucifixion with the Hebrew words "Holy holy holy" on it. recently, a sign had been placed next to the statute, in English, Hebrew, and Czech, explaining that the addition of the Hebrew was the result of a court sentence against a Jew in the community, Amazingly, the whole affair was a result of corruption within the Jewish Community itself. Basically, one member of the leadership sought to knock off another by reporting that he was acting disrespectfully toward the Christian Community. The result was a shameful mark on the Jewish Community of Prague.
Saturday night we visited Bejt Simcha, a liberal Jewish Community in Prague, where the students got to hear about the make up of the modern Jewish Community. They learned about three main groups of Jews that make up the community (Moroccan Israelis, Russian Israelis, and Czechs), as well as the public response in opposition to a recent protest by a neo-Nazi organization. The other Madrichim and I went with a member of the community to pick up Pizza. He's studying at the university for a PhD in Zoharic Aramaic (wow). By taking us along, we got to encounter more intimately the culture of Prague, including the tendency to smoke on every occasion that one leaves a building, and the tendency to drink upon entering one.
That just about wrapped up our stay in Prague, a truly beautiful city, with a rich and well preserved history,but also a strange quiet and distance from topics of the past. I didn't feel like the city could decide whether to take responsibility for the disasters that befell its people, or to characterize itself as another victim. Either way, there's definitely something special about this place.
We moved on to Maisel Synagogue, named after a wheat trader who's business with Krakow fed Prague. Originally built in the Renaissance, the structure was later redone in the Gothic style. What's significant about this place is that housed in the attic are rows and rows of candelabra, mezuzot, yad pointers for Torah reading, each with a number corresponding to a list detailing original ownership. During World War II, the Nazis intended to make a Jewish museum documenting the history of an extinct race. Neither happened. Meanwhile in Prague, I don't remember if the Jews had begun a project of their own, or as a result of the persecution of World War II, but a major campaign was launched to collect and preserve significant Jewish artifacts from all over, and the Nazis allowed the Jews to curate this museum in Prague. One would ask why the Nazis wouldn't intervene to promote their propaganda and their views of the Jewish people.The answer is that the Nazis believed that allowing the Jews to be themselves would only further support their theories. There would be no need to embellish the image. Just as with a bad student, giving the student a project wouldn't require any additional strategy to validate an opinion of character.
There were three exhibits at the Jewish Museum during the Holocaust, but who saw them? Only one Nazi group. Only one of the Jewish curators survived.
In 1994, Prague returned the Jewish area of Josefov to the Jewish Community, and the day after, an El Al flight landed with the Israeli Minister of Education, Zevulun Hammer, intending to collect the artifacts and take them back to Israel. The Jewish Community of Prague refused to hand over the objects, saying that these items are all that remain of their community. Hammer responded harshly, by questioning their Judaism. They remarked that their Jewishness was defined by their guardianship of this legacy. Consequently, the Museum has a particular dislike for Israelis. Nevertheless, a legitimate question of ownership arises. There is a story of a Czech librarian, who corresponded with his son during the war while he worked in the Museum. When his son came from Israel and was informed of a box in the attic filled with the letters he wrote his father, he was in disbelief. But when he went to pick them up and take them, he was told that they were no longer his, and by state law the letters belonged to the Czech Republic and the Jewish Community.
Next we went to the Pinkhas Shul, passing by the Hevre Kadisha building; the site where the Nazis ordered the [assimilated] Jews of Prague to meet and register, in accordance with the Nuremberg Laws. These people had no idea why they were being asked to do this, and only very slowly did they realize that everyone around them was Jewish too.
The Pinkhas Synagogue was built with a section for women, and used as a Neolog Synagogue until the War. Following the Holocaust, a survivor returned to Prague with the dream of creating a memorial for the Jews who were lost. Specifically the Jewish victims of Bohemia and Moravia were excellently documented by the Nazis on their way to Terezin. This then, I believe, was not only one of the first Holocaust memorials, but it was probably the first to include names, let alone a complete list of names. They run along the walls, arranged alphabetically by location and name, including dates. Finished in 1959, the site was neglected by the state, the names peeled, and there were even speculations that the Russians white-washed the place out of anger with Israel. So after the Nazis destroyed the memory, and the Communists erased the memory, it was again painted and preserved in 1994.
Behind the Pinkhas Synagogue is the famous old Jewish Cemetery, noted in the Protocols of the Elders of Zion. Used from the 15th Century through the 1780's, the plot contains around 12-14 layers, including the Maharal, Rabbi Loew, Maisel, and Cordovero, a Shabbatist (Shabbatism was very popular here). You can see the Star of David on stones for people named David, as well as the absence of separation between men and women. In contrast, Hasidic communities bury men and women separately. There was also an isolated section, where presumably thieves and victims of suicide were buried. Here Shalmi discussed traditions at the Maharal's grave:
As we continued on the path, Shalmi's speeches began to hold up groups from all over...
After a short stop at the Franz Kafka Cafe (not recommended), the last place we visited formally before getting ready for Shabbat, would also be the place where we would attend Friday night Shabbat services. The Spanish Synagogue was built in the 1860's, in the Modern style, for the emancipated Jewish Community (emancipated in 1867). The only Spanish thing about it is the neo-Moorish style. This was a Synagogue you went to to be seen in, like the Dohany. There was split seating and an organ. The art, though, is something else.
We returned to the hotel to prepare for Shabbat. I made arrangements for students to perform a religious ritual of lighting candles, and following some odd looks by the receptionist, I led some students through the spa to the outdoor pool. We lit two candles on a chair and carefully protected the delicate flames from the wind.
When we came back to the Spanish Synagogue for services, we joined a group called "Beit Praha," consisting of people who had recently moved to Prague. In following their service, I was suddenly struck by the emptiness of the space, as the sounds of our voices further affirmed the absence of others. I had led services here before, when I was on Muss, but I didn't recall the acoustics being this terrible. If sounded like you were in a cathedral. Words weren't coherent, only tones. There was a Gershwin concert coming up on the calendar, and a USB device in the gift shop, shaped like a Golem with the three Hebrew letters on its forehead. I was reminded of the visit to the Synagogue in Arazane, Morocco, where we revived a religious site by using it for what it was built for, but all the while nostalgically and symbolically.
Friday night dinner was a meal to forget, in a Kosher restaurant.
Saturday we prayed in the Altneu Shul, the women got to experience following a service from the other side of a wall, and then we ate a much better meal at another local Kosher place. We walked along the Charles Bridge and discussed the famous statue of the crucifixion with the Hebrew words "Holy holy holy" on it. recently, a sign had been placed next to the statute, in English, Hebrew, and Czech, explaining that the addition of the Hebrew was the result of a court sentence against a Jew in the community, Amazingly, the whole affair was a result of corruption within the Jewish Community itself. Basically, one member of the leadership sought to knock off another by reporting that he was acting disrespectfully toward the Christian Community. The result was a shameful mark on the Jewish Community of Prague.
Saturday night we visited Bejt Simcha, a liberal Jewish Community in Prague, where the students got to hear about the make up of the modern Jewish Community. They learned about three main groups of Jews that make up the community (Moroccan Israelis, Russian Israelis, and Czechs), as well as the public response in opposition to a recent protest by a neo-Nazi organization. The other Madrichim and I went with a member of the community to pick up Pizza. He's studying at the university for a PhD in Zoharic Aramaic (wow). By taking us along, we got to encounter more intimately the culture of Prague, including the tendency to smoke on every occasion that one leaves a building, and the tendency to drink upon entering one.
That just about wrapped up our stay in Prague, a truly beautiful city, with a rich and well preserved history,but also a strange quiet and distance from topics of the past. I didn't feel like the city could decide whether to take responsibility for the disasters that befell its people, or to characterize itself as another victim. Either way, there's definitely something special about this place.
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