Prague Journal

Sunday, March 27, 2005.

Most of the Czechs I know are taking advantage of the long Easter weekend for outings in the country. There is still enough snow in the mountains for cross-country skiing, and many people are at their country-homes, planting and sprucing up the cottages that have been neglected over the winter. I had expected more stores to be closed today, but most stores in the center of town are on a regular Sunday schedule, which means that the big chains and tourist places are open and the small local shops are closed.
Charlotte and Bruce had invited Christine and Rudy and Michele and John and Rick and me for dinner, which mean that Bruce fired up the grill and we had very tasty American-style steaks. Charlotte fixed mushrooms and onions and potatoes and made a huge salad, and also palacinky (crepes) with fresh strawberries and whipped cream. You would have thought we hadn’t eaten for days! Of course the best part of the day was the conversation with such interesting people.
We had an early dinner so I was able to go to the concert at the Jubilee Synagogue at 8pm. The concert was low-key; the performers were from the EuroJews tourgroup, some of whom are professional performers (musicians and chazzans). I hadn’t been in the main sanctuary of the Jubilee Synagogue for 7 years and I had forgotten how ornate it is. Like other Czech synagogues built at the turn of the 20th century, the Jubilee synagogue is built with Moorish, Byzantine, and Art Nouveau influences and has a large organ in the upper gallery. It was originally a reform synagogue, and was built outside the Jewish Quarter to replace three synagogues that had been destroyed when the Jewish ghetto was abolished in 1852. The decision to build the synagogue in the newer neighborhood where most of the population lived was made in 1898, at the time of the 50th anniversary of the accession of Franz Joseph I to the Austrian Throne. The synagogue was named the Jubilee Synagogue in his honor, and was dedicated on Simchat Torah on September 16, 1906.
Apparently there are several Moorish synagogues in the US. Perhaps the best known is B'nai Jeshurun synagogue in Cincinnati, built in 1866. It was designed for Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise (Weiss), who was born in Bohemia in 1819 and moved to the US in 1846. After only four years, Wise was dismissed from his position in New York, and in 1954 moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, where he remained for the rest of his life. There he created a common prayer book for followers of Reformed Judaism, and in 1873, Wise formed the Union of American Hebrew Congregations. This organization initially united thirty-four Reform Jewish congregations together under a national body. In 1875, Wise established the Hebrew Union College, the first seminary in the United States for Reform rabbis, which still uses the temple for ordinations.
Interestingly, another Moorish synagogue, constructed in 1888, is in Oregon. It was destroyed by a fire in 1923, but rebuilt between 1926 and 1928. We remember attending the Ahavath Beth Israel synagogue in Boise, Idaho, the oldest continuously used synagogue west of the Mississippi. Modeled after a synagogue in Toledo, Spain, this Moorish-styled structure features a Romanesque interior, keyhole-shaped arches and pastel stained-glass windows. The building was completed in 1896, one year after Moses Alexander, the nation's first elected Jewish governor, and 24 other members of Boise's Jewish community formed the congregation. We found out from Yehudes, who is from Boise, that the synagogue was moved three miles across town last October (2003). The central location was nice, but the synagogue had outgrown its facilities and wanted to provide classrooms (and, undoubtedly easier parking) for the expanding congregation. After a Havdalah ceremony marking the end of the Sabbath on Saturday, the building’s move started at 11 p.m., accompanied by a community-wide walking procession featuring a klezmer band and a ritual carrying of the Torah. Visiting clergy and Jewish scholars gave readings and prayers along the route, which stopped at Alexander’s graveside and concluded with an 8 a.m. service at the new site.

posted by JWinn @ 11:09 PM