Prague, one of the grand capitals in Europe where thousands of tourists come each year to visit the Jewish life that once was, is a city with vast Judaica museums. Prague contains one of the richest collections of Judaica in the world, including 40,000 Jewish objects and 100,000 books that were confiscated by the Nazis from 153 communities all over Europe with the express purpose to build a "Central Museum of the Defunct Jewish Race." It is also a city of beautiful old synagogues untouched by the war and the famous Old Jewish Cemetery where great Rabbis were laid to rest. Just 60 kilometers from the capital stands the infamous Thersienstadt concentration camp where so many perished.
Going back in time, Prague, "Praha" in Czech, was the first Bohemian city in which Jews settled. It was one of the oldest communities in Europe dating back to 906.
In 1096, at the time of the Crusades, many of the Jews of Prague were murdered by the crusaders and many were forcefully baptized. In 1142, the Jews who of the suburbs of Prague left after a siege in which the Jewish Quarter was burned down; they moved to what is now the present day Jewish Quarter. It was here that the "Altshul" (old synagogue) was founded.
The "Altshul," which was completed in 1270 and which still holds services today, is the oldest remaining synagogue in Europe. According to legend, the synagogue was protected from fire in the ghetto by the winds of angels which changed into doves. Its foundation stones, also according to legend, are said to have been brought by angels from the destroyed Holy Temple under the condition that they would be returned upon the Temple's restoration.
In the center of the synagogue is the Bima enclosed by high forged metal lattice decorated in Late Gothic and Early Renaissance style. There are stone pews along the longer walls that have been preserved from the original furnishing of the synagogue. The floor of the vestibule is somewhat lower than the street level to signify humility. Additionally, there is a high banner attached to the western pillar. The center of the banner bears the Star of David and in the center of the star there is a Jewish hat, which was the sign of Prague Jewry for centuries. The privilege to carry a banner of their own as a symbol of independence was granted to the Jews of Prague by Charles IV in 1357. The banner was altered to its present form in 1716.
The Old Jewish Cemetery is perhaps the most visited one in Prague. It is the largest and best preserved Jewish cemetery in the whole of Europe. There was an earlier Jewish cemetery called the "Jewish Garden" which was closed down in 1478, in the vicinity of the Hradcany Castle. The present Jewish cemetery was founded in the 15th century in the center of the ghetto. As religious law forbade the destruction of old graves, new layers of earth were piled on top on one another in order to accommodate new burials. In some places there were as many ten burial layers.
Today, the cemetery holds almost 12,000 tombstones dating from 1439 to 1787, when Joseph XI issued a decree prohibiting further use of burial grounds in populated areas. Here you can see the Late Renaissance tomb of Judah ben Bezalel, known as Rabbi Loew (1512-1609), and his wife Pearl (d. 1609), which are the most visited gravesites in the cemetery. Rabbi Loew, the Maharal of Prague, was born in 1512 in Posen, Poland. When he was young he studied under Rabbi Jacob Pollack (1460-1541). He moved to Prague in 1573 where he headed the Talmudic Academy. In 1592 he was called to Posen to act as Chief Rabbi. After five years, he returned to Prague and became the Chief Rabbi of Prague, and remained in office until his death.
The oldest tomb at the cemetery is that of Mordechai Maisel (1528-1601), the leading personality and principle investor of buildings in the Jewish Quarter. The building of the Maisel Synagogue was one of the many that he financed. There is also the tomb of Rabbi David Oppenheim (1664-1736) who amassed the largest collection of old Hebrew manuscripts and prints while living in Prague. Chief Rabbi of Prague, Aharon Shimon Spira (1600-1679) is also buried in the cemetery. He was known as "Shimon the Righteous," held office as Chief Rabbi of Prague for forty years and was regarded as a great expert in Mishna. His greatness in learning as well as the hardships he went through are described in his epitaph.
On the individual tombstones were written the history and life of the deceased, their profession, scholarly abilities and contributions to society. The symbols of a crown, hands spread out in blessing, or a laver on the tombstones were used to indicate that the deceased belonged to the priestly tribe of Kohanim or to the Leviim. A design of scissors indicated that the individual was a tailor while books were a symbol of a scholar. Additionally, a relief of an animal symbolized of the name of the deceased.
The Old Jewish Cemetery was used for 348 years and although it contains 12,000 tombstones, the number of those buried there is much greater.
In the city of Prague is also the New Jewish Cemetery founded by the Jewish community of Prague in 1891. Right next to the cemetery entrance are the graves of great Rabbis. In this cemetery whose area was prepared for 100,000 graves, one can find Neo-Gothic and Neo-Renaissance gravestones.
The Synagogues:
In addition to the Old-New Synagogue, there are also the Pinchas Synagogue, the High Synagogue, the Maisel Synagogue, the Klausen Synagogue, the Spanish Synagogue and the Jubilee Synagogue- all of which are managed by the Jewish Museum of Prague.
The Pinchas Synagogue
It was originally a private house of prayer, and the first mention of its existence dates back to 1492. Yet archeologists have discovered indications of an earlier date, as they uncovered vaulted underground rooms and a ritual bath (Mikva) in the area. After World War II the Synagogue was turned into a memorial to the Jews of Bohemia and Moravia who were murdered by the Nazis. On its walls are inscribed the names of 80,000 Jewish victims who perished from 1939 to 1945. There is a permanent exhibition of children's drawings which were painted by children in the Thersienstadt concentration camp by from 1942-1944. The drawings are housed in the upper section of the synagogue. There are over 4,000 original children's drawings housed in the Jewish Museum. Of the 15,000 children who came to the camp, only 100 survived. At that time the outstanding artist Friedl-Dicker Brandejs taught the children to draw. He gave them blank pieces of paper and paints, provided them with a theme, and encouraged the children to use their imagination to depict their suffering and their longings for home.
The High Synagogue
The name "High Synagogue" originated due to the fact that the house of prayer was not on the ground floor but on the first floor of the building. Originally, the entrance was from the first floor of the Town Hall. The synagogue was contracted Mordechai Maisel who, as mentioned above, had been very involved in the Jewish community. The high ceilings are in Renaissance style and the Aron Kodesh is in Baroque style. Because of the great fire in 1689, the synagogue was repaired in the 1690's, and this is when the women's gallery was constructed. More alterations took place in the 1960's and 1970's. Services are still held at the synagogue.
The Maisel Synagogue
The synagogue was built during the period of 1590 -1592 when it was financed by Mordecai Maisel who also funded the extensive Renaissance reconstruction of the ghetto (perhaps including the cemetery). Over the years, the synagogue was damaged several times by fires and its rich furnishing was destroyed and as a result, it lost its former Renaissance grandeur. The current appearance of the Maisel Synagogue is the result of reconstruction that took place from 1862 to 1864. It was reconstructed in the Neo-Gothic tradition. The Synagogue is now part of the Jewish Museum and contains extensive exhibitions of unique Judaica collections.
The Klausen Synagogue
The Klausen Synagogue was completed in 1694 and was the largest synagogue in the ghetto at that time. It also served as Prague's "Burial Society." The Early Renaissance Klausen Synagogue is adjacent to the Old Jewish Cemetery. It was built on a land site acquired in the late 16th century by Mordecai Maisel, a part of which was used for the extension of the cemetery. After the fire in 1689, the new construction was done in the Early Baroque style. The two-story extensions on the north and west side of the synagogue are lower than the main building. The Aaron Kodesh located in the center between the windows of the east front has the classic appearance of the Early Baroque period and was made in 1696, funded by Samuel Oppenheim.
The Spanish Synagogue
On Dusni Street in the place of the demolished Old School, a new synagogue was built from 1867-1868, and was called the Spanish Synagogue due to its Moorish designs. The decorations in the interior were stylized and gilded with colored motifs and wall paneling. The huge windows are made of stained glass.
The Jubilee Synagogue
The Jubilee Synagogue was built in the early 20th century in Jeruzalemska Street in the New Town of Prague and its style is influenced by Art Nouveau and Moorish designs. Its west front is deeply articulated with turrets by the sides and a wide inlaid portico forms niche with a circular window bearing the Star of David inside of it. Services are held at the Synagogue.
The Chabad House
In Prague there is the New Chabad House were prayer services and various functions are held.
Prior to the invasion of the Nazis, the Jewish population in Prague amounted to about 56,000. The deportations started on October 6, 1941 to the Thersienstadt concentration camp 60 kilometers away. As many as 46,067 Jews were deported. At the close of the war the number of Jews who survived, including those who settle in Prague, amounted to 11,000. By 1950, about half of the Jewish population had immigrated to Israel and other countries, Jewish practices were banned, and the two Prague Rabbis, E. Farkas and E. Davidovic left the country. Jews were branded as "class enemies of the working people." With the Soviet invasion in 1968 the Jewish population was further reduced down to 2,000. In 1989 following the "Velvet Revolution" and the ouster of the Soviets, Judaism's was again being rediscovered. The famous synagogues were restored to their original beauty and kosher restaurants were opened in the Jewish Quarter.
Chief Rabbi Gustav Sicher (Benjamin Ze'ev; 1880-1960)
Rabbi Sicher abandoned his early activities in the medical profession to become a rabbi. His first rabbinical post was in the Jewish community of the Bohemian town of Nachod. After World War I he was appointed the rabbi of the largest Jewish congregation of Prague, Praha Vinohrady, and in the early 1930's became Chief Rabbi of Prague. After the German occupation of Czechoslovakia in 1939, Sicher emigrated to Israel, where he founded a synagogue for Czech Jews in Jerusalem, and acted as rabbi for the patients of the Hadassah hospital. In 1947 he was recalled to Prague to the chief rabbinate of Bohemia. In this capacity he organized religious life in 51 communities reconstituted after the Holocaust. He also devoted himself to the enlargement of the Jewish Museum in Prague. Rabbi Sicher's main literary work was the translation of the Pentateuch into Czech.
Yes, Prague was a beautiful city of memories, a city of beautiful synagogues. It was a city, where in a concentration camp so close, so nearby, children wrote poetry describing butterflies dancing near their barrack windows, of being away from home, and of being homesick.
HOMESICK
You see at once on each you meet
That there's a ghetto here,
A place of evil and of fear.
There's little to eat, and much to want,
Where bit by bit, it's horror to live.
But no one must give up!
Yet we all hope the time will come
When we'll go home again,
Now I know how dear it is
And often I remember it.
Anonymous - written by a child, 1943
- Thersienstadt
Copyright © 2003 by Stanley Mann
Michlalah Jerusalem College All Rights Reserved