Prague Journal

Tuesday, November 02, 2004

Today is a serious holiday for Czechs, similar to All Soul’s Day (the day after Halloween). On the second of November, families gather at cemeteries to pay respects to their ancestors and relatives. Summer flowers on the gravesites are replaced with winter shrubs and garlands, and candles are lit in the evening. Many families begin observances over the weekend, sometimes traveling to several towns to visit gravesites of various relatives.
This afternoon I met with my landlady, Milena Halova, at the bank where she works. Over the weekend, she had visited the cemeteries of her husband’s relatives and her relatives, in two towns both south of Prague. Today she will visit the place where her mother is buried, not far from our flat. This afternoon, over spiked coffee and cookies, we talked about families and politics. She is an educated woman, so our conversations are always interesting. Since she is Czech, she can tell me about Czech customs and about the changes that have occurred over the last decade. She is also well-traveled, so I enjoy her descriptions of other European countries.
Later in the day, I met with Eunice, one of the women I had met at the WIB dinner yesterday, for a light dinner and conversation. She related some interesting conflicts in the Jewish community over the last few years, some of which I had heard before. We went to a lecture by Rabbi Hoffberg, the rabbi (from Chicago) who had been hired – and then fired – by Bejt Praha in 2002 (which either started or escalated the conflict). According to some old newspaper articles on the web, around 10 former members of Bejt Praha left with him to form a new group. Rabbi Hoffberg is still in Prague, conducting services for Bejt Simcha, the liberal (reconstructionist) group, which has also had its own share of controversy and split allegiances. Rabbi Hoffberg is affiliated with Masorti Olami, the World Union of Masorti, and has formed an official Masorti, or Conservative, community in Prague. He also gives lectures and conducts a conservative conversion class. Only orthodox conversions were recognized in the past.
As the evening falls here, it is the morning of election day in the USA. There is a restaurant here that has scheduled an election-day party – big screen TV to broadcast results – beginning at 11 p.m. (5 p.m. in New York, 2 p.m. in California). We’ll wait until morning to read the headlines.

posted by JWinn @ 11:35 PM