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Prague Will Amaze You By Arnie
Greenberg (Pictured above, the 15th century Orloj, or astronomical clock, is on the southern facade of The Old Town Hall. On the hour, twelve apostles emerge and the skeleton of death tolls the bell with one hand while holding an hourglass in the other. It has many other figures, like a vain man admiring himself in the mirror. The clock shows hours, days and equinoxes plus phases of the moon. People start gathering before each hour to watch the show). I'm finally going back! It thrilled me the first time, and I'm sure it will be more exciting today since the Czech Republic's rebirth. It is visually magnificent…like a Grande Dame wrapped in flowing, colorful robes. Even the artist Rodin compared the city with Dante's Paradise. It is a major center and one of the most visited cities in Europe. There are new sections, old sections and old-new sections. It is steeped in history, a Mecca for businessmen and a wonderful place for a holiday. It was the home of Kafka and Franz Werfel (Song of Bernadette), a city of canals, castles, bridges and churches. At one time, this area was the home of a large Jewish community numbering as many as 375,000 Jews. The community in Moravia and Bohemia goes back over 1,000 years. Today, there are about 7,000 Jews in Prague alone. Over 80,000 were killed during the Holocaust at Terezin and Auschwitz. There are so many sites to see, including the old Charles Bridge and the Astronomical Clock in the Old Town Square. But for me, one of the most moving sections is the Josefhov, or the old town center. It was here that the Jewish people lived a difficult life in a ghetto of ram-shackled buildings fitted tightly together like a decrepit old jigsaw puzzle. Much of the area was destroyed, but today there are remnants of this once proud culture that bring tears to ones eyes and wonder to the heart. I will joyously return to the Josefhov to see the Maisel Synagogue, built in the 16th century. It is now the home of a permanent exhibition, "The History of Jews in Bohemia and Moravia from the 10th to 18th Century." The Pinkus Synagogue nearby serves as a memorial to the victims of the Holocaust. It was once a private house and affords easy entrance to the Old Jewish cemetery. I remember the exhibition of drawings housed there, done by children of the Terezin ghetto. There are other synagogues, like the Old-New that miraculously survived the medieval pogroms. It was believed that the building was transferred to Prague from the Promised Land by angels and built from stones of the destroyed Temple of Jerusalem. The Spanish Synagogue is Moorish in design and stands on the site of The Old School. Here one can see the religious objects, featuring the silver religious objects brought to Prague by the Nazis. There is a synagogue within a stone's throw of the cemetery that serves as a school and ritual bath. Here, too, one can see an exhibit of Jewish customs, such as birth, circumcision, ritual bathing, weddings, divorces and household traditions. But it is the unique ancient cemetery that draws the most visitors. Here you can walk through the oldest and best-preserved Jewish burial grounds in Europe. About 12,000 graves are crowded into a relatively small space on several superimposed layers. The extraordinary accumulation of tombstones, leaning together as though huddled from pending disaster, is mind-boggling. Here one can see the grave site of Prague's famous rabbis, Chief Rabbi Leow the Maharal of Prague (1510-1609) and Rabbi Landau, who died in 1793. One learns of the writings of these great men, the stories of "men of the streets', the Golem, which is a part of the ideology and mythology of a certain time. The Josefhov also boasts a tower with two clocks. One looks normal to the eye and just below the clock with Hebrew letters instead of numbers, moves in opposite direction. You will notice, however, that the chimes ring together. I remember Prague as an upscale, exciting place, where the arts are king and the architecture is moving. I remember watching the moving parts of the Astronomical clock and the magic of the Charles Bridge at night. I remember the soft colors of the buildings, the grand cathedrals, and Prague Castle in the Hradcany Quarter with their thousand-year-old walls. I remember the Baroque-style buildings and the new Czech architecture, especially the award-winning Dancing House in the New Town. This futuristic house of glass is the work of Frank Gehry and Vlado Milunic. Fred Astair and Ginger Rogers (who seems to be wearing a glass skirt) inspired it. Prague is a city to wander and enjoy for its contrasts. There is something for everyone, including wonderful restaurants and comfortable, well-run hotels. There are also tour companies in the main commercial areas that will take you through the city or into the outskirts. There are theme tours, too, including three-hour Jewish walking tours, bus tours in and out of the Jewish quarter, or 5- or 6-hour tours on various themes. If You Go… For information, call Aharon Travel at 420 2 353 535 89, or visit www.aharontravel.cz/jewprague.htm For more information
about Prague, call 420 2 66 704 618, In North America, information can be obtained at travelczech@pop.net or www.czechcenter.com/travel.htm, or call (212) 288- 0830. (Note: Unfortunately, Franz Kafka is not buried in the Josefhov Jewish cemetery, but in a newer one a few miles away. There is, however, a moving plaque to his memory in the Old Town at 5 U Radnice). For
$699, Steal Away to Prague or Budapest (Click below for more travel).
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