Early yesterday morning we went to the Jewish Quarter in Prague, which is right next to Old Town Square, and got a tour around this area. I was excited and curious to go into the Jewish Museum, which is not one building but consists in several synagogues and the Jewish cemetery. My favorite synagogue was the Spanish synagogue because of the intricate stain glass and wallpaper. The museum was founded in 1906 by Dr. Hugo Lieben and Dr. Augustin Stein in order to preserve the synagogues during a time of urban renewal. In 1942 the Nazi’s established the Central Jewish Museum where they stored confiscated items of the Jewish people. There are several theories as to why the Nazi’s started a Jewish museum, and some people speculate that they wanted to show a museum of an exterminated race. Luckily this never happened.
I thought this tour was interesting because I like learning about other religions and cultures. Our tour guide was very interesting although I felt like some comments she said were biased, but I guess we all have our biases. I had never been to a synagogue before, so going to one was very educational for me. The architecture was somewhat similar to a Christian church but the set up of the synagogue was completely different. I was surprised to learn that during Orthodox Jewish prayer, men and women are not allowed to be in the same room. This tour helped me understand Judaism better, especially coming from a family that is Catholic, and having known little about the Jewish religion.
No comments:
Post a Comment