-The Charlotte Jewish News -December 2006 - Page 17
Jewish Traveler
By Maxine Silverstein
Prague
I have always wanted to visit
Prague in the Czech Republic.
Both my children traveled there
while they were doing study
abroad programs in college. They
loved this city and encouraged us
to visit. This past June, we were
invited to the American Express
Representative Excellence trip to
Prague and Vienna. Our travel
company is affiliated, with
American Express, and this was
an award trip for their top travel
agencies. We were thrilled and
excited to finally be in Prague, and
we were not disappointed at all.
The friendly and warm people,
fabulous sightseeing, reasonable
prices and delicious food make
this a great place to visit.
The Jewish Community of
Prague (JCP) has a long and rich
history that dates back to the 10th
century. This community is one of
the oldest in Europe, rich in histo
ry, legend and tragedy. The com
munity was confined to a ghetto
until 1781 when Josef II issued the
Edict of Tolerance. This edict per
mitted the free exercise of religion
and the secularization of educa
tion, science and art. The Jewish
town is called Josefov to this day
in honor of Josef II. Later, the
Nazis all but annihilated Prague’s
Jewish community, and although
the post-war communists did little
to alleviate the persecution and
many inhabitants chose to emi
grate overseas, Josefov is still a
vibrant part of the city.
There are about 1,500 regis
tered Jews at the Jewish
Community of Prague (JCP) now
and the estimate is about 5,000
Jews living in Prague. It was much
higher before World War II, when
many Jews died in the Terezin
concentration camp, just outside
Center of Prague
of Prague. The Prague Jewish
community is the biggest in
Bohemia and Moravia. The Jews
in Prague try to manage their lives
together and to bring back the old
heritage and legacy. The Jewish
community runs two kosher
restaurants, Shalom in the Jewish
Community building and King
Salomon located on Siroka Street.
There are also four orthodox syna
gogues in Prague.
The Jewish Museum of Prague
is the starting point for an explo
ration of Prague’s Jewish past and
present. Created in 1906 as a sym
bol of Czech Jews’ assimilation.
the museum manages the syna
gogues and the old Jewish ceme
tery. It possesses one of the
world’s richest collections of reli
gious and domestic objects, manu
scripts, paintings and engravings
gathered before the war. The rea
son that the main buildings and
cemetery in the Jewish quarter are
still intact is that Hilter intended to
transform the quarter into an epi
taph to a vanished culture. The
Jewish Museum supervises the
Old Jewish Cemetery, the Old
Ceremonial Hall and the Pinkas,
Klausen, Maisel and Spanish
Synagogues but not the Old New
Synagogue. The highlight of our
trip was our visit to the old Jewish
quarter. The Old Jewish Cemetery
was the final resting place for
Prague Jews from the 14th centu
ry until 1747. Some 12,000 graves
are said to be piled one on top of
the other. The Old New synagogue
is the oldest still working syna
gogue in Europe and was built in
the 13th century. Despite fires and
Nazi occupation, it remains today
the spiritual center of the Jewish
community. This Jewish Quarter
is amazing. Please allow at least a
full day to enjoy all its marvelous
sights.
We also found a little free time
to experience the Czech cuisine
and found it to be quite good and
very reasonable. The seafood was
fresh and delicious, and we found
some great local wines available
in the city. Some of our favorite
places were: David Restaurant, a
quaint and charming place located
by the American Embassy, and U
Zavoje, an excellent restaurant
and wine bar. We sat outside and
loved this place. We also tried
Celnice, a casual fun restaurant
and beer hall.
The shopping was also great.
We found good buys on handmade
Czech toys and puppets, interest
ing antiques and beautiful ceramic
pottery.
Now is the time to visit before
the Czech Republic changes over
to the euro. It’s great to find an
exciting, interesting and fun
European city that still has bargain
prices. Go soon, I know that you
will enjoy every single minute in
this wonderful city,
Maxine at the Jewish cemetery in
Prague.
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