Prague's Jewish Quarter

One of the "best Jewish cites in Europe" according to Rick Steves' guide, the Jewish Museum of Prague extends through about seven synagogues and other buildings over the space of several city blocks. The Nazis ordered the Jews to start collecting items for a museum they intended to create after having exterminated all the Jews. And, indeed, it is now a museum. They did not allow pictures except in the cemetery, so what I could snap was limited.

The cemetery is itself quite interesting. Used over centuries until the 19th, Jews were only allowed to bury in this cemetery and nowhere else in Prague. When they ran out of space, they started stacking the graves vertically in the ground sometimes as many as six or seven coffins deep. This accounts for the way the stones are absolutely packed in:

Burial Society's building. These folks were responsible for purifying a body after death and overseeing burial. They also seemed to form quite a social club, with their own engraved china and a yearly banquet:

Here's a picture I snuck in one of the synagogue. This book with pop-up wheels helps one calculate the Jewish calendar:

Another sneaky pic of the inside of a synagogue:

Implements for making matzah:

The "Old-New Synagogue":

The vaulted ceiling in this synagogue has five rather than four lines coming together somewhat awkwardly. They chose five rather than four so that it would not form a cross (this is the standard in church architecture in Prague), but you can see that the craftsmen were used to doing four and so five look somewhat odd:

Safe where the community stored money for the tax collector:

The final synagogue was the Spanish synagogue, by far the most impressive architecturally. They did not allow me to take any pictures inside, but we went back later that evening for a concert (Prague has tons of classical music concerts which are cheap and casual) and I was able to take lots of photographs. Here are a few:

Ceiling:

 

Rosette window just above the ark:

A display case had a pair of candlesticks identical to some my parents own that belonged to a relative of mine. These are apparently 19th century Austrian, if I remember the label correctly (need to double check):