Prague Jewish Quarter

Ellen had prom on Friday, May 25th. All three kids had Friday through Monday as school vacation. So, to maximize our weekend, we picked Ellen up from prom at 2 AM, took her home - the three of us showered, we woke the boys and left for Prague! Jeff, the boys and I had gotten a few hours sleep and Ellen was prepared to sleep in the car. We would go to bed early that night but take advantage of the daylight hours to explore Prague.

The kids hardly noticed when we pulled into the underground parking lot near the Vltava River so it was fun to see the looks on their faces as they emerged from the underground parking lot to Prague!


We happened to park near the Jewish Quarter and Old Town so we headed for the Jewish Quarter first. We quickly discovered that Saturday is not a good day to visit the Jewish Quarter (Duh!) so we saw a few things and finished the Jewish Quarter on Monday. These pictures from the Jewish Quarter are from both days.

This is the Church of the Holy Ghost. It sits on a narrow piece of Christian land that separated the two Jewish communities of the Middle Ages (the Jews of the eastern and western rites). The statue in front is from 1727 and depicts St John Nepomuk distributing alms.

This is the Old-New Synagogue. We were able to visit it on Monday, along with the Klausen Synagogue and the Pinkas Synagogue.

This is the Jewish Town Hall. It was built in the 1570's by Mordechai Maisel (his name is everywhere in the Jewish Quarter - very rich and powerful!). Interestingly, the lower clock turns counter-clockwise (because Hebrew is read right to left) and has Hebrew figures. Now this building functions as the seat of the Council of Jewish Religious Communities in the Czech Republic.

The Old Jewish Cemetery was amazing! It was founded in 1478 and was the only burial ground permitted for Jews for over 300 years! Therefore, there is an estimated 100,000 people buried here in layers up to 12 deep! The last burial was in 1787!

The insides of most of the synagogues did not allow photos - I snapped a couple of flash-less ones but they are not so good. This synagogue is now a museum of sorts - containing lots of old, beautiful items used in Jewish worship. The Pinkas Synagogue now serves as a memorial to all the Jewish Czech citizens who were imprisoned in Terezin concentration camp in WW II (and subsequently transported to various extermination camps). The memorial consists of the names of more than 77,000 of these people who never returned. Upstairs is an exhibit of children's artwork/drawings from the Terezin concentration camp.

This is the ark - the holiest place in the Old-New Synagogue. The doors behind the curtain contain the Torah scrolls. Next to it is Rabbi Low's Chair.

One fun story surrounding the Old-New Synagogue is the story of Rabbi Low. He was a scholar and philosophical writer in the late 16th century. He was believed to posses magical powers. Supposedly, he created the Golem (a strange-looking monster-like figure) from clay and brought it to life by putting a magic stone tablet in its mouth. The Golem was said to go crazy and Rabbi Low had to remove the tablet. The story says Rabbi Low hid the Golem in the Old-New Synagogue's rafters. You can buy Golem replicas in gift shops all around the synagogue.

This is the entrance to the Old-New Synagogue. All males were required to wear yarmulke in the Old-New Synagogue.