Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Old Jewish Cemetery (Starý Židovský Hřbitov)
From the Pinkas Synagogue, you enter one of the most wistful
scenes in Europe—Prague's Old Jewish Cemetery. As you wander
among 12,000 evocative tomb-
stones, remember that from 1439
until 1787, this was the only burial
ground allowed for the Jews of
Prague. Tombs were piled atop
each other because of limited
space, the sheer number of graves,
and the Jewish belief that the
body should not be moved once
buried. With its many layers, the
cemetery became a small plateau. And as things settled over time,
the tombstones got crooked. The Hebrew word for cemetery means
“House of Life.” Many Jews believe that death is the gateway into
the next world. Pebbles on the tombstones are “flowers of the des-
ert,” reminiscent of the old days when rocks were placed upon the
sand gravesite to keep the body covered. Wedged under some of
the pebbles are scraps of paper that contain prayers.
Ceremonial Hall (Obřadní Síň)
Leaving the cemetery, you'll find a Neo-Romanesque mortuary
house built in 1911 for the purification
of the dead (on left). It's filled with
a worthwhile exhibition, described
in Engl ish, on Jew ish medicine,
death, and burial traditions. A series
of crude but instructive paintings
(hanging on walls throughout the
house) show how the “burial brother-
hood” took care of the ill and buried
the dead. As all are equal before God,
the rich and poor alike were buried in
embroidered linen shrouds similar to
the one you'll see on display.
Klaus Synagogue (Klauzová Synagóga)
This 17th-century synagogue (also near the cemetery exit) is the
final wing of a museum devoted to Jewish religious practices.
Exhibits on the ground floor explain the Jewish calendar of fes-
tivals. The central case displays a Torah (the first five books of the
Bible) and solid silver pointers used when reading—necessary since
the Torah is not to be touched. Upstairs is an exhibit on the ritu-
als of Jewish life (circumcisions, bar and bat mitzvahs, weddings,
kosher eating, and so on).
