Our first full day in Prague would be one would be one for the ages! While my feet hurt from the walking, my soul is nourished by the beauty of this place, and I could only imagine how it must have felt before World War 2 which decimated the Jewish population. We hopped on our bus to take the short drive to the Castle District, A UNESCO World Heritage Site, and boy did this place earn that ranking! I took more than 250 photos today, each time declaring that there is no way these photos will accurately display just how beautiful these places are. How lucky I feel to see them in person.
Our first stop would be the St. Vitus Cathedral, built in the 1300’s. One thing we learned is that the Czech Republic is one of Europe’s LEAST religious countries. That makes sense when you consider the historic antisemitism and the fact that communism allowed for NO religion. And yet, there is a rich history of these incredible religious structures, many gothic in nature, that reminds us of a time when there was a larger religious culture here.
I think our group was a little giddy with the sun shining like this for the start of our day. As we approached the entrance to the cathedral, once again we could hear audible gasps from our group as they made their way through the archway.
Camilla, our guide, shared that art is a way of telling the stories from our bible and from history. All of the windows and sculptures in this church tell various stories that are made more vibrant through the colors and designs. With each step our collective breaths were taken away.
I won’t try to recount all the stories we learned, and tell you the names of all the tombs we saw. I just want you to be able to enjoy the beauty of this place. Leasa and I commented many times that this was the most awe-inspiring cathedral we have even seen.
Look at that organ! How I would love to be able to hear that instrument played in this space. Camilla, our guide, shared that they are working to raise money to refurbish the instrument. I was proud to add a donation to that with the promise that one day I will come back to hear this organ played.
While we were standing in the center of the church Leasa wanted me to sing something Jewish, and with Camilla’s permission I sang a little of the Max Janowski Avinu Malkeinu. While this made me really uncomfortable, it was thrilling to have my voice fill that beautiful church, and quite moving to hear Hebrew sung in Prague.
We walked around the outside of the cathedral and headed towards the Golden Lane, a chance to see how ordinary families would have lived in the Castle District. While walking Camilla explained how the cobble stones we were walking on spanned 3 centuries, showing the different colors for each century.
Golden Lane was where palace guards, goldsmiths, seamstresses and even alchemists once lived. We also learned that Frank Kafka lived at 22 Golden Lane.
As we made our way out of the Castle District towards the Old Town Square, we got to take in some amazing views.
We visited the memorial above which remembers the Czech pilots who flew and fought with the Royal Air Force during World War 2.
We also saw the memorial to all of the victims of World War 2.
Oh, and did I mention the views???
You can see all of our TAE traveling family taking photos on the bridge!
After a lunch break we began to explore the Jewish Quarter. From the 13th century, Jews could only live within the ghetto’s walls. In the 18th century, the ghetto was abolished and much of the area was destroyed. Some important sites, however, were safeguarded, making this perhaps the best place in Europe to experience how Jews once lived.
There are two clocks…. Notice the one in Hebrew? Yes, it runs backwards!
We learned that the Jewish Quarter had only 360 buildings in it, and we were going to see a number of them. Our first stop was the Altenshul, which is Europe’s oldest synagogue.
This synagogue was built in 1250. Yes, you read that right, 1250, and is still in use today. The star in the flag above might just be the very Jewish stat that inspired Herzl to include it as a part of the flag at the First Zionist Congress.
As Ron and Camilla spoke to us about the importance of this place, I could not help but notice the faces above our traveling family. Do you see them? They are the faces of the hostages in Gaza, taken on October 7 after the horrific Hamas attack. Here, in a place that has known such hatred towards Jews throughout history, how important for this living Jewish community to recognize the suffering of Jews and Israelis outside of Prague. It was incredibly moving to see. I went around and looked at each photo, paying close attention to the three names I have held close, the two precious babies in the Bibas family and Keith Siegel, who’s brother I met while in Israel this past July. These faces are a constant reminder that we need to bring the hostages home now.
Above the photos of the hostages you can see a small window in the wall. This is the window where the women watch the services from. There are several of these windows in two of the walls of the synagogue. These windows are still in use today.
And here is an ancient tzedakah box. I guess even in ancient times synagogues needed donations to help those in need!
Following this meaningful visit, we made our way to the Maisel Synagogue, built in 1592 during a golden age for Prague's Jews, and the ghetto became famed for its intellectual and economic achievements. this synagogue was built to serve the growing Jewish community.
Now a museum, this synagogue houses items that are tagged with the names of the owners.
They are tagged in the hopes that the owners will come and pick up their items. Sadly, those owners were murdered during the Holocaust and it is likely that these items will never be claimed. At one moment you see the beauty of a structure, you learn some history about an ancient synagogue, and then the Holocaust comes back and knocks you off of your feet. While you can move forward with strength, you can never forget that horrible time.
Camilla also told us that 400 years earlier, Jews were forced to wear these yellow hats, to make identifying them easier. Much like the yellow star during the holocaust, this hat was meant to isolate the Jews from the rest of the community. It is crazy to think that there has been so much hatred of Jews for so many generations. If we could stop spending our energy on things we “hate” and put our minds to helping to fix our world, imagine how beautiful this world would be…
We then made our way to the Pinkas Synagogue, built in 1535, which was more evidence of this community’s prosperity. Today, it serves as a memorial for the 70,000 Czech Jews who were murdered by the hands of the Nazis.
This is one of the most moving and devastating of all the memorials I have seen. I know it is hard to see, but each and every wall is covered with all 70,000 names, organized by where they lived, of the victims of the nazis. What starts out as a wall decoration brings each name to life as you begin to wander the site. We walked in silence, tears streaming down our faces as we experienced this terror at the hands of Hitler’s killing machine. In the distance we could hear names being read and at the end, on the wall where the ark would be, the names of the places where these innocent Jews were taken. Many were taken to and died at Terezin, the camp we will visit tomorrow.
Entering this space I knew there was another place I had to see with my own eyes. Tomorrow, we will experience the concentration camp at Terezin. At this camp, many of the children who were imprisoned there created artwork that tells such a tragic story, a story no child should have to tell. The original artwork of these dear children is on display on the second floor of this synagogue. Ron took Leasa and I to bear witness to their artistic testimony.
As we walked along the displays, I wanted to look at each picture. I could envision tiny hands creating this art and with every stroke of crayon or pencil, my heart tore open more and more. Ron’s voice grew shaky as he walked us through the exhibit, and we all cried at the inhumanity of humankind who can show children such cruelty.
We took longer than we should have in this area and had to catch up with our group who was already experiencing the Old Jewish Cemetery, where for 300 years Prague’s Jews in the ghetto were buried here.
We learned that there are more than 12,000 tombstones on this property. As space ran out, they would lie the stones flat on the ground and bury another layer of people on top of the first. This was repeated 12 times during the history of the cemetery. Many times you can see a lower layer’s stone peeking up through the ground.
We noticed many tombstones had rocks placed on them, much like we do today when visiting out loved ones who have passed away, but who’s spiritual presence still holds an important place in our lives. As I wandered the cemetery I tried to imagine the person each stone represents. Each told a story, and all deserve to be remembered.
These walls are filled with babies who passed away before they had lived 30 days, making them ineligible to be buried in the main part of the cemetery.
We then made our way to the Spanish Synagogue, which provides a glimpse into Jewish life after the ghetto walls came down.
Oh my goodness, what a stunning synagogue. Built in 1868 in the former ghetto area by Prague Jews who were seeking as more reformed style of prayer, we learned that today this is an active synagogue, with two reform communities utilizing this space. We were fortunate enough to experience a classical music concert here to end our day of traveling.
Tomorrow we will take extremely difficult steps as we walk into a concentration camp. In many ways Terezin is unique among camps, and in many horrible ways there are similarities to other camps that will show nazi cruelty. I hope I can be of support to those in our group who have never walked into such a place before. I know I will draw strength from them as well.
No comments:
Post a Comment