Prague Journal

Friday, February 04, 2005.

Bejt Praha was host to Rabbi Seigel and 47 seniors from the Solomon Schecter High School of New York who are on their way to Isreal for two months, via Prague and Poland. Solomon Schechter High School of New York is the only egalitarian Jewish high school serving the five boroughs, Westchester and Rockland counties. The school opened its doors in 1996 with a kindergarten, and now includes an elementary, middle, and high school, serving grades K-12. The students who visited us this evening represent Solomon Schecter’s first high school graduating class. The Solomon Schechter name connotes affiliation with the national Solomon Schechter Day School Association, an arm of the Department of Education of the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism. There are over 70 Solomon Schechter schools throughout the United States and Canada, the first of which was established in 1951.
After the service – and the blessing of wine and bread and hugs all around – Yehudes and Helen joined Rick and me for dinner at U Kapra. Helen is British, but lived in the U.S. for fifteen years, mostly in New York and Pennsylvania. Yehudes grew up in Boise, Idaho. So far the only common acquaintance we’ve established is her pediatrician, who was our daughter’s doctor when we lived in Boise. So, the conversation transitioned from politics to food (American BBQ and fresh fruit all year) to American and Czech culture (theater and music) to mutual experiences (picking fruit in Emmett, Idaho) and small-world connections. We didn’t leave the restaurant until nearly 10:30 p.m., but set a date for next week to continue the conversation. We talked about people and things we miss in America, but next year the conversation with our American friends will undoubtedly contain things and people we’ll miss from Prague.

posted by JWinn @ 10:41 PM