Prague's Jewish Quarter

Monday, July 27, 2015

This is it, our last day to enjoy the splendors of Prague.  We know our way around fairly well and head across the Old Town Square without even having to think about it!  What in the world is going on in the square??  There are brides everywhere!  And each has her own photographer!  But it isn’t very bright and there aren’t any lights or reflectors or anything! 

Marilyn can’t stand the suspense and asks one of the young men what is going on.  Is it a shoot for a bridal magazine?  “No”, he replies in perfect English, “It’s a group honeymoon!”  There are seven couples who all got married at home in Japan and have come to Prague on their honeymoons because the backgrounds for their photos are so magnificent!!  They are all having a ball and the girls get more use out of their wedding dresses! 

 We’re heading to the Jewish Quarter for round out our Prague Experience.  For centuries there had been a thriving Jewish population living peacefully with the rest of the Czechs.  As in so many other cities, the Jewish population was decimated and the Quarter, now, is really just a … square block museum.  You even have to buy tickets to enter the holy sites, including synagogues and the old cemetery.

Although we’ve walked through most of the Old Quarter, in which the Jewish Quarter is located, we are still finding new street to explore and this morning we finally find a store that only sells handmade Czech crafts.  Of course this requires a stop-and-shop!  Great beginning to our last day in this architectural fairyland! And there are always new details by which we are delighted!

With more bags and less cash, we’re on our way.  The tickets are sold just outside the Pinkas Synagogue.  You can choose how many sites you want to visit and if you want to take photographs there is an extra charge of 70 Krona (less than three dollars).

The walls of the synagogue are covered in neatly written names of all the Jews from Prague and the nearby towns who were exterminated in the camps.  They are arranged by family with hometowns being written in ochre, family names in red, and individuals. first names, dates of birthday, and last date on which they were known to be alive written in black.  When the Communists took over, they obliterated nearly everything;  but with the return of freedom the names were all rewritten.  In just a couple of places you can see the original lettering and the desecration.

 Upstairs is an exhibit of children’s artwork from the Terezin Concentration Camp.  This was the Nazis showplace, used to demonstrate to the world that the stories of horror and death were not true.  There were concerts and plays and art classes.  There was even a weekly magazine produced by the children.

"Darkness"

"Butterflies"

"Flying"

"To the Train Station" and the artist

From here, one visits the Old Jewish Cemetery.  For about three hundred and fifty years (1439 – 1787) this small place was the only burial ground for the Jewish community.  As a result, tombs were piled one atop another with the resultant crowding and upheaval, and a plateau was eventually created.  The path curves among the stones leaning against one another with lettering all but erased by time.

 From here, the route leads to the Ceremonial Hall.  This is where the bodies were prepared for burial, by the members of the Burial Society.  There are displays inside describing the cleansing and burial rituals, and actual implements are displayed, as well as a burial shroud.

Alms boxes

Burial Society beaker

 Next is the Klaus Synagogue, built in the 17^th century. It continues the description of Jewish life and religious practices.  Downstairs, the exhibits center on the Jewish calendar of festivals.  Before going upstairs we succumb to our hunger pangs and so in search of some ethnic food.  There’s a van outside touting the virtues of a restaurant called King Solomon and offering coupons, so we head toward the restaurant.  Along the way, though, we happen up Kafka Snob Food.  Who could resist? 

Torah Shield

Non-smoking Section! 

For the first time we’re asking if we want the smoking or non-smoking section!  Our section turns out to be two whole tables!  But the servers are charming and the homemade soups, carrot and tomato, and the salads, tuna and Greek are huge and fresh.  And of course the fresh breads to dip in olive oil and balsamic vinegar could have been a meal by itself!

For those who don't remember Golem's story.

See how close some of the Museum's components are.

Heading back to finish the Klaus Synagogue we run the gauntlet of souvenir stalls.  Upstairs in the Synagogue the exhibits center on the rituals of life, weddings, bar and bat mitzvahs, circumcisions and kosher eating.

Spice boxes

The Old-New Synagogue has been the most important synagogue in the city for more than seven hundred years.  It was built in 1270 and you have to go downstairs to reach the 13^th century level of this Gothic building.  It’s the oldest synagogue in Eastern Europe. I found it fascinating that, since Jews were not allowed to build, the synagogue was built by the Christians, who also built the St. Agnes Convent nearby!

This is a copy of the banner which the Jewish community
carried through town during Medieval parades. The hat in
the center of the Star of David is the hat which the Pope
required Jewish men to wear in 1215.

At last!  Franz Kafka's statue!

The Spanish Synagogue is a couple of blocks away and Marilyn isn’t so sure we need one more synagogue.  Being my parents’ child, I figure that we’ve paid for it and we ought to go see it!  Boy are we glad we did.  Prior to this, we’ve been comparing the gilt and glitter of all the cathedrals and basilicas we’ve seen with the relative austerity of these synagogues.  The Spanish Synagogue dispels this view. While it will never match the Christian displays, it is quite striking and beautiful.  The Moorish influence is obvious, especially noticeable in the shape of the windows.

Torah Crown

There are so many artifacts and memories.

 On our way home we stop at the last site, the Maisel Synagogue.  It was built as a private place of worship and is only one room.  But don’t let that make you visualize a tiny space.  It is anything but!  There is an animated display showing the development of the area through history and there are displays tracing a thousand years of Jewish history in Bohemia and Moravia.

"Do a mitzvah today!!"

Back through Old Town Square and one last chance at the perfect photo!  And we finally have our definition of Shisha confirmed.  It’s a hookah!  Many cafes offer them.

Giggle!

The Tyn Church, finally, in decent light!  And the clock, too!

We head upstairs at OPH and begin the arduous task of packing.  Marilyn orders a ride from the Prague Airport Shuttle to pick us up at 7:30 in the morning.  That should give us an hour to arrive and two hours before take off.  We check in to our flight online and I receive my first texted boarding pass!  I’m really nervous without my trusty piece of paper;  but it will be another adventure!

The plan had been to return to the terrace restaurant around the corner for another bottle of that lovely wine and, possibly, dessert.  But when we get outside, it just seems like a better idea to go to the little café right next door.  There is only one table open outside and it means we have to claim it away from the couple sitting at its twin.  They are very gracious and we move what is now our table a bit away from theirs so as to give us all our personal space.

We order a pitcher of sangria and are waiting patiently when our server returns to say they are out of (something??) and can’t make the sangria.  We order a bottle of Riesling instead.   Then the pitcher of sangria appears! At this point we begin to chat with our neighbors, Leena and Jeri.  They are from Finland and live in the middle of the country, near the Russian border.  They say it isn’t scary and that, in fact, the Russians buy houses in Finland! 

The food choices are pretty limited and all three of the ladies order the bread bowl filled with goulash.  Jeri ordered something blindly because it was the only thing that didn’t have mustard in or with it!  It turns out to be a meat and cheese plate and looks yummy!  We compare notes on what we have seen and done and help them get oriented.  Funny to be able to help someone else in a city we’ve just “met”!

Back to the room and all those final preparations. Everything is ready and maybe, just maybe, it will be quiet enough to sleep.