Prague Journal

Saturday, November 6, 2004.

I went to the morning service at the Jubilee Synagogue (referred to locally as Jerusalemska, for the name of its street location), which is not in the Jewish Quarter of Prague. Built in the 1800’s in what was a fancy neighborhood of Prague, the synagogue had an organ and was officially considered Reform. Ironically, the synagogue is now strictly Orthodox, with a small close-knit group of locals. Led by Rabbi Samuel Abramson and Rabbi Ronald Hoffberg, the service had more of a conservative flavor than the orthodox service at the Altnai Shul. The conservative movement has only recently been officially recognized by the Jewish Community in Prague, largely through the efforts of Rabbi Hoffberg who came to Prague three years ago.
The morning service is held upstairs in the chapel, rather than in the main sanctuary. The women sit in a room separated from the men by a decorative screen so everyone is visible to everyone else – not like the Altnai Shul where men can’t see the women and the women peek out of slits in the deep stone walls to get a glimpse of the men’s service – and the feeling is quite inclusive. The service this morning was unusually well attended, since it was the yartzeit for one of the members. By the time the service ended around noon, there were 19 men (20 if you count the Torah!) and nearly as many women in the anteroom, filling the spaces to capacity. The service began very prayerfully, with a cantor chanting softly and everyone in silent prayer. There followed a more ordered (responsive) service interspersed with familiar prayers and melodies, followed by a Torah service and Haftorah reading. The service started at 9 a.m. and went until nearly noon, after which we retired to the hall for kiddush, with sweet wine and delicious pastries.
After the service, I spent two hours with Adellaide, a woman who I had met at the Tuesday evening lecture (part of a conversion class series) given by Rabbi Hoffberg at the Jewish Town Hall. Adellaide is Czech, but grew up in London until her family emigrated to Prague in 1985. She has only recently practiced Judaism (he mother is Jewish, but not her father), but has many stories to tell about the changes in Prague over the last two decades. She speaks native British English and Czech and passable Italian and is well-traveled and well-educated. We had a delightful chat over Italian espresso in a small café on Wenceslas Square.
Adellaide had told me about an Israeli film series across the street from the Jewish Town Hall, so Rick and I joined her and a group of about thirty others at 5:30 for a showing of several short film clips from last year’s Jerusalem Film Festival, moderated by Amy Kronish, curator of Israeli and Jewish film at the Film Archive of Israel. The main feature of the evening was the full-length film entitled “As If Nothing Happened,” by Ayelet Bargur, about a family’s trauma at the suspected loss of their soldier-son during a random bombing. Very sobering indeed.

posted by JWinn @ 10:28 PM