30/07/2024
Thank you Rabbai Kelman
Ponderings from Prague
Rabbi Jay Kelman
It is fair to say that without the help of Czechoslovakia the State of Israel would not have come into existence. They were the only country openly selling military equipment to the pre-State Yishuv, and during the War of Independence. The United States – hard for us to believe now – did not begin selling arms to Israel until the 1960’s.
Much of this crucial credit should go to the Masaryk family, undoubtedly leading members of the “Righteous of the Gentiles”. The first President of Czechoslovakia[1], Tomas Garrigue Masaryk had very warm feelings towards the Jewish people and the Zionist movement, becoming the first head of State to visit the Yishuv in Mandatory Palestine. While he died in 1937 his son Jan, the foreign minister of Czechoslovakia, retained and deepened the close relations, ensuring the supply of arms to Israel in the lead up to the War of Independence.
In March 1948, soon after the Communists (the Russians) took control of Czechoslovakia, he was found dead beneath the window of his bathroom apartment. The official line of the Russians was that he committed su***de. So sad how little has changed over the past 75 years.
At the same time Czechoslovakia, along with Soviet Union [2] were amongst the 33 countries to vote in favour of the establishment of Israel, and Czechoslovakia officially recognized the State of Israel four days after its declaration. Today Czechoslovakia is one of Israel’s closet friends and supporters.
The history of the Jewish people in Czechoslovakia long predates the 20th century - by some 1,000 years. The capital Prague was for much of Jewish history ir v’eem b'yisrael, a great and glorious city of Jewish learning. The oldest continuous shul in Europe is the famous Altneuschul of Prague in constant use since it was built in the 13th century. When built it was the new shul but when new shul's were later built it became the old- new shul.
Not only is it the oldest shul it is the most prestigious shul in Jewish history – measuring prestige by its rabbinic leadership. People do get the leaders they deserve, and the great rabbis elected to serve here say much about the lay leadership of this community. Davening there Friday night brings one into a glorious past.
The shul is most often associated with the Maharal of Prague, Rav Yehuda Loew (1525 -1609). The Maharal was one of the great thinkers of the Jewish people and his thought greatly influenced the Chasidic movement, begun some 150 years after his death, and still influences a wide range of ideological trends of thought prevalent today. Unfortunately, his educational philosophy has not gained much traction. His approach was very unoriginal – it being the educational philosophy of the Mishna – that one should study Tanach from the age of 5-10, Mishna (i.e basic Jewish laws) from ages 10-15, and begin Talmud (i.e. analytical study) only at the age of 15. Nonetheless Jews had – and continue to – ignore this most sensible approach and the Tosafists even give halachic justification for such a departure[3].
Living through a time when the first Jewish books were printed, he lamented the fact that the printers put the dialectic commentary of the Tosafists on the side of the page instead of a more text based commentary. This would have enhanced our understanding of the text before us as opposed to raising questions from other Talmudic passages that bear no direct bearing on the text before us[4].
The least important thing to know about the Maharal is the legend of his creation of a Golem, a tale that is first recorded only in the 19th century.
The Maharal is just one of the many rabbinic greats who served as rabbi in Prague. Rav Mordechai Yaffe is a nearly forgotten figure. Author of the ten-volume code of Jewish law known as the Levush it served for some time as a “competitor” to the Shulchan Aruch.
Rav Yom Tov Lipmann Heller served as Chief Rabbi from 1627-29. He is author of a most important and influential Mishna commentary, the Tosofot Yom Tov. He composed a special Mi Sheberach, prayer for the well-being of those who do not talk during davening. This important prayer is printed in some editions of the siddur generally just after the yekum purkan. I have yet to attend a shul where it is actually said – despite the continued need for such a prayer.
One his many descendants, Aryeh Leib Heller is author of one of the classics of all of rabbinic Judaism, the Ketzot HaChoshen. His son-in-law Shlomo Leib Rapport (Shir) was elected Chief rabbi of Prague in 1840. He was what might be called an observant maskil, writing amongst other works critical biographies of great rabbinic figures[5].
The Kli Yakar, Rav Ephraim Luntsh*tz, whose homiletical commentary to the Torah appeared in all classic Mikraot Gedolot editions of the Chumash was appointed Chief Rabbi of Prague in 1604. This great preacher often railed against ostentatious displays of Jewish wealth.
In 1755 Rav Yechezkel Landau, the Nodah b’Yehudah (Yehuda being his father’s name) was appointed Chief Rabbi of Prague. His responsa are amongst the most important of past 300 years and of any,time. He wrote the first responsa regarding autopsies in Jewish law, at the time forbidding it because the potential benefits were so far in the future and so uncertain that it did not qualify as pikuah nefesh, saving of an actual know life[6]. During his tenure the winds of modernity were beginning to take shape – especially in a large city like Prague – heralding what would later become a sharp decline in religious observance in Prague. He was a fierce opponent of Chassidut.
Other rabbinic luminaries who served here include Rav Yonatan Eybeschutz and Rav Elazar Fleckeles
While the Altneuschul is imbued with learning it is nowhere near as ornate as many of the European shuls built at a later date, including the beautiful shuls still standing in Prague. Reflective of the times the shul was built without a women’s section, though today women can peek inside through the small windows that were later added as space was carved out of the walls of the shul.
Hanging on the walls of the shul are the special takanot, ordinances issued by the rabbinic leadership of the shul – most by the Maharal. First on the list is the decree, “yehey mah sheyeheyeh”, best translated as under no circumstances and repeated twice in case someone missed it, may a single person have an aliyah to the Torah or any other communal honour. The only exception is an aliyah for one’s bar-mitzva and aufruf!
Other decrees forbid any other shul in Prague from starting davening before the Alntenschul begins – I guess there were no hashkama minyanim in Prague. One that for us moderns is rather unbelievable is that decreed by Rav David Oppenheim that on Tisha B’av the doors of the shul are to remain locked until the 6th hour of the day ensuring that no one would go to work in the morning.
It is clear that they said Aneem Zmirot every day of the week as one of the shul rules is that from Chol Hamoed Sukkot until Purim one put on his tallit after aneem Zmirot and from Purim until Chol Hamoed one puts on the Tallit before Aneem Zmirot. And for those concerned with tircha tzibura, causing unnecessary burden, specifically the wasting of time of the community, no more than 18! additional aliyot (that is 25 in total) were allowed on Shabbat – the decree even quoting the verse that the mitzvot of the Torah are so that vechai bahem to live by, as support, with the numerical value of chai being 18.
In the early part of 20th century the municipality of Prague in their efforts to beautify Prague (and it is a beautiful city) knocked down many old structures. This included a number of shuls so that today there are four shuls in the old Jewish quarter of Prague. Sadly, the only one in use as a shul is the Altneuschul with the exception of Yom Hashoah when services are held in the Pinkus shul. Listed on walls of the shul – and they tragically take up the entire space of the walls – are the names – by city and in alphabetical order no less - and dates of birth of 80,000 names of those killed in the Holocaust.
Steps from the shul is the old Jewish cemetery in use until 1787. As the Jews were granted only limited space for the cemetery there are graves layered upon graves some 7-10 deep making the cemetery rise high above street level. The most famous person buried there is the Maharal and what may come as a surprise to some today, the Maharal and his wife have a joint tombstone. The newer cemetery – also no longer in use – is where the Nodah B’Yehudah (he died in 1793) and Shlomo Yehudah Rapoport are buried.
The other two shuls in the old Jewish quarter - the Maisel shul, built as a private synagogue by the philanthropist Mordechai Maisel in the 16th century and the Spanish Shul – built in the mid 19th century and the last shul built in the Jewish quarter - are beautiful museums with much fascinating material - a handwritten manuscript of Rav Yonatan Eybeschutz to name one. Sadly, they are no longer houses of prayer. The Spanish shul today is used as a concert hall – whether that is even sadder or making the best of the situation is something one can debate.
The Maisel Shul contains a video presentation of the old Jewish quarter from the beginning of the 20th century. This was made possible by an artist who spent 20 years drawing in complete detail the old city of Prague.
Like many – especially – European cities Prague is overflowing with tourists. The Jewish sites are an integral part of touring Prague and the shuls and cemetery are visited by thousands upon thousands of non-Jews. The monies raised from these visits help fund communal infrastructure – the community centre, the old age home, the local school and shuls.
Shabbat morning, we davened at the Jerusalem Synagogue – so named because of the street it is on. This is where the “locals” daven. There we met the Chief Rabbi David Peter a native of Prague who after spending 13 years in yeshivot in Israel (Machon Meir and Merkaz HaRav) retuned to Prague with his lovely wife Elise, a native of Paris. Demonstrating once again how no matter where we might be the Jewish people are one large family – Elise and our daughter Atara studied together in the Yoazot halacha program. Sadly, few today use the mikva.
The history of Prague is wonderful to experience, the present much less so. What the future holds no one knows and only fools predict. As as I have mentioned before wherever Jews are living we need people to help them lead more intensive and meaningful Jewish lives.
[1] The area Czechoslovakia was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire until Word War 1 and was established as an independent State in 1920. In 1948 the communists took over and Czechoslovakia only became free with the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989. In 1993 Czechoslovakia peacefully divided into the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
[2] As Rav Soloveitchik noted, the fact that both the Soviet Union and the United States voted in favour of the UN partition plan was one of the miracles allowing the establishment of Israel, and was perhaps the reason Divine Providence saw to the creation of the United Nations.
[3] While one might (or might not) argue that the approach of the Tosafists that one should focus almost exclusively on Talmud made sense in an age in which only the elite received an intensive Jewish education, it can in no way be justified today when BH all are expected to receive a serious Jewish education.
[4] The first complete set of the Talmud was published by Daniel Bomberg in Venice in 1523. Only minor changes have been made to the pagination in the ensuing 500 years. It is beautifully ironic that the structure of daf yomi, the daily study of a page of Talmud a day - was pretty much determined by a non-Jew.
[5] You can see his picture here. As Dr. Shapiro insightfully observed we have today many “charedei" Jews who dress very modern; how wonderful it would be if we had Modern Orthodox Jews who dresses like this maskil did".
[6] Many today argue that with the rapid advance of medicine, autopsies can and do provide immediate important knowledge and hence using the Noda B'Yehudah criterion many autopsies today would be permitted and perhaps even obligatory.
