Around Town - Top 10 Prague - page 96

Rabbi Loew
One of Prague's most famed
residents, Rabbi Loew ben
Bezalel (1512-1609) is associated
with numerous local legends but
he was also a pioneering
pedagogue and a leading Hebrew
scholar of the times.
Foremost among the myths
surrounding Loew is that of the
Golem, a clay automaton the
rabbi supposedly created to
defend the ghetto (see p52) .

Maisel Synagogue
Rudolf II gave Mordecai
Maisel permission to build his
private synagogue here in the
late 16th century, in gratitude for
the Jewish mayor's financial help
in Bohemia's war against the
Turks. At the time of its construc-
tion it was the largest synagogue
in Prague, until fire destroyed it
and much of the ghetto in 1869.
It was later rebuilt in Neo-Gothic
style. Inside is a wonderful
collection of Jewish silverwork
and other items such as
candlesticks and ceramics, much
of it looted by the Nazis from
other synagogues across
Bohemia. Ironically, the Third

Ceremonial Hall

Reich planned to build a museum
in Prague, dedicated to the Jews
as an “extinct race. d Maiselova 10
• Map L3 • Open Apr-Oct: 9am-6pm
Sun-Fri; Nov-Mar: 9am-4:30pm • Adm

Ceremonial Hall
Built in the early 1900s in
mock Romanesque fashion, the
Ceremonial Hall was home to
the Jewish community's Burial
Society. The exhibits inside detail
the complex Jewish rituals for
preparing the dead for the grave.
d U Starého h∫bitova • Map K2 • Open
Apr-Oct: 9am-6pm Sun-Fri; Nov-Mar:
9am-4:30pm • Adm

Klausen Synagogue
Abutting the Old Jewish
Cemetery, this Baroque single-
nave building was constructed in
1694 on site of a school and
prayer hall (klausen) where Rabbi
Loew taught the cabala . Like
most of the synagogues in the
area, it is now houses Jewish
exhibitions, including prints and
manuscripts. d U Starého h∫bitova 1
• Map K2 • Open Apr-Oct: 9am-6pm
Sun-Fri; Nov-Mar: 9am-4:30pm • Adm Maisel Synagogue

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