After an exhausting yet exhilarating day, MSLP are finally
going to sleep in the magical city of Prague.
The day began with a 2am ride to the airport before flying
in to Prague. We met up with Shira, our guide for the journey, who had prepared
a full day in the Jewish Quarter of Prague. The ride from the airport was
enjoyable just for the sake of looking at the beautiful history outside our
windows.
We began by visiting the Maisel Synagogue in the Jewish
Quarter, now a museum depicting the long and tumultuous history of the Jews in
Prague and in particular the role the members of that congregation played. We
stared in awe at the exquisite and priceless exhibits on display while learning
just how far back the history of the Jewish Community in Prague went. This
shule itself was built back in 1590!
We then walked around the corner to the Pinkas Synagogue,
where local art students inscribed on the walls of the main sanctuary the names
of over 80,000 Jewish Victims of the Holocaust from Bohemia and Moravia. This
literally took our breath away, seeing the tiny inscriptions covering wall
after wall in this beautiful synagogue. What made it even more poignant was the
fact that this particular shule had been chosen by the Nazis as the site for “The
Museum of an Extinct Race.” That the shule now holds the names and memories of
all those murdered from the surrounding area, visited by Jews and non-Jews
alike from around the world, shows that they live on with us.
We then continued on to the Old Jewish Cemetery which is one
of the most important historic sites in Prague´s Jewish Town. The oldest
tombstone, which marks the grave of the poet and scholar Avigdor Karo, dates
from the year 1439. Burials took place in the cemetery until 1787. Today it
contains some 12,000 tombstones, although the number of persons buried there is
said to exceed 100,000 as earth was brought in to add further layers each time
it became full. It is assumed that the cemetery contains several burial layers
placed on top of each other. We stopped at the most prominent person buried in
the cemetery, the great religious scholar and teacher The Maharal, who is
associated with the legend of the Golem.
Then we stopped for a
sumptuous lunch, before visiting the Spanish Synagogue, a magnificent and
inspiring structure to behold. Finally we made our
way to the final synagogue of the day, the Old New Synagogue, which is also
Europe's oldest active synagogue, having been built in 1270. Legend has is it
that the Golem was created and brought to life here and remains hidden there,
ready to awaken some day. Also, a banner dating back to the 1400’s and
depicting the first use of a Magen David hangs in the shule, and we were all reminded
of a quote we heard in Yad Vashem, “As important as it is that we see the flag,
it is just as important the flag sees us.” We had trouble imaging who and what
this flag has seen over the years and would be fascinated by what it could tell
us if only it could talk.
Then we went to the Prague Square to walk around and enjoy the beauty of the city. Various ways heard to describe Prague were “Magnificent”, “Awesome”, “Magical” and “I have no words”. After taking thousands of photographs each, we made our way to the Jewish Community Centre for a question and answer session with some local Jewish Youth on how life is today for them in Prague. It was a very eye opening and interesting session and we all learned a lot about the community. Then we had dinner with them before finally settling down into the hotel.
After today’s opening day focusing on the beauty of life in
Europe, tomorrow we go to Terezin to begin our journey into the history of one
of the darkest periods in the history of the Jewish People.
Dion
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