Starting the New Year in a 750 year old Synagogue

Ah, what a start to a new year! After a restless night [and not because I went out; I for some reason never sleep well on Erev Rosh HaShana], I was up at 7 getting ready for services. Although getting ready only consisted of showering and eating an apple with honey, gtting to the Jewish Quarter takes a while.
The Jewish Quarter is an unbelievable area of town that most tourists make sure to go to upon visit. It's pretty weird walking from a metro to multiple, multiple-century-old synagogues and passing some of the priciest stores in a town. Being filled with synagogues and really expensive stores only, however, I guess this area lives up to the traditional, Jewish reputation. The sad part about the Jewish Quarter is definitely not aesthetic or cultural. Much to my dismay, I learned this morning that the Prague Jewish community consists of approximately 1500 members, and there are just barely 3000 within the whole country. I never would have thought that Hitler's first stop would have been in a country with so few Jews, but I'm just hoping that it's always been like that and not just since 1939 (which I believe it unfortunately is).
Anyways, lsat night's service was quite American in nature, despite being in a mid-16th century building. Today, I went all out, both in terms of the service and the building. Today, I managed to get into Staronova Synagoga, also known as the Old New Synagogue, despite extreme security. I realized that the security only wanted to make sure that I (and everyone else) had a legitimate story to tell, and that they weren't trying to lie to get in, which is nice to know. They still are really scary and really intense, especially for 4 or 5 guys who are all under 5'11. In regards to being culturally all out, the Old New Synagogue is Orthodox in every sense of the word (although not ultra orthodox), and much more traditional than Chabad [duh]. The most shocking aspect to most, which plays a role into both ways of it being 'all out,' is the design of the building.
Completed in 1270, Staronova is one of Prague's first gothic buildings, an impressive claim in itself. I can't wait to take a tour of the Jewish Quarter and actually learn about this place, because it definitely has some history within it. Anyways, you're not allowed to take photos of the inside, and being Rosh HaShana I didn't take a picture of the outside, so here is a picture (to get a feel of it) of the synagogue from online.Despite Staronova seeming to have a really high ceiling, you actually walk down - as if into a basement - and have an even higher ceiling above you from the inside. Above you, gigantic gothic arches point towards heaven. Surrounding you are extremely plain, extemely old stones which have a pale plaster covering them. For decoration, there are about 5 or so quotes painted around the walls. Unlike traditionally US synagogues, all of the seats are not facing the same direction as the ark. The ark may be on the southern-most wall, but only seats on the north wall face it. If you're on the west wall, you're sitting towards the east wall, and if you are on the west side of the bima, youre facing west (the bima is in the middle). All that the bima is is the center of the room, elevated by two stone steps, and surrounded by iron beams. The bima almost looks like a prison, if you sort of squint your eyes and imagine the beams are 3 inches apart instead of about 6. The iron-rod door that is at the top of the 2 steps, even locks. Anyways, this is just the inside where everyone prays.
On the outside is the interesting part. Most orthodox synagogues in the US have a divider separating men's and women's sections; some even have separate rooms for women. Staronova goes all out by having 4 feet of stone separating the women. And I don't mean a separate room. I'm talking about the outside walls, which your back is up against (with an extremely uncomfortable, upright, wooden slab in between), has 4 feet of stone behind you. About 7 feet off the ground, there is a small hole (about 3 feet long on the inside of the shul, about 6 inches long on the outside) similar in shape to a castle's openings for firing at enemies. These 6 inch wide holes are on 2 walls, and on the outside, is where the women sit. O yeah, some stand in the entrance hallway with their kids too.
One thing I learned today was patience. Being in a stone fortress, which somehow even spared Nazi destruction, sound REALLY echoes. Meaning the kids running around in the halls outside of the service that you don't usually here (because of doors and carpeting and insulation and distance and such) make it hard to here the cantor chant. Luckily the kids don't usually make it to all of Shachrit, they only come with their mother's to the end (as in the Torah Portion and the blowing of the Shofar). Phew. At least it's not like anyone came to actually here those parts, instead of, say, the silent Amidah, which no one speaks for. Anyways, as I read the Torah Portion to myself with a faintly audible chanting in the background, I noticed that as frustrated as I was getting with these kids, no one else was. Saying I was the least religious person there, and probably everyone else had been looking forward to hearing it sung for at least 11 and a half months, it's pretty interesting to notice how no one minded the kids screaming or walking onto the bimah. I guess great patience is a blessing and should be a requisite for all.
Other interesting things of note:
-Whenever the Torah was lifted, everyone raises their right pinky finger. Not sure why.
-People get up quickly during the blessing prior to reading each aliyah (the part that the congregation recites back to the omeh)
-Having just said the prayer over the reading of the Torah, everyone in the entire synagogue shakes the omeh's hand after he gets off the bimah.
-I had to miss the musaf service, starting after the Torah was returned to the ark, in order to make it back for class, which I am not excused from (I skipped my Czech language class this morning)
-After returning from class, I was exhausted. I took a 30 minute power nap so that I'd be revived for Tashlich with the Americans. I really did want to throw some stale Czech bread (which I've got lots of) into the river, but instead I accidentally slept for 4 hours. At least tomorrow morning I should have no problem getting up for services.
-The shofar blowing was really nice, and unlike in the US, at Staronova, they have a tradition of making each 'tekiyah' longer than the previous one (and leading up to the Tekiyah gedola). This makes the shofar blower become pretty tired by the end, and I can't wait to find out how long he can really hold a Tekiyah gedola for on Yom Kippur (without 30 other ram's horn blows beforehand). Hopefully everyone else has had a nice service, and anyone going back tomorrow will enjoy the rest of their New Year's services.
PS: Why on the Christian New Year's to we get wasted, yet on the Jewish one, we feel an obligation to be somber in order to begin our '10 days of asking for forgiveness,' which every American Jew most definitely thinks about on New Year's night?

Shana Tova!

So I woke up and walked to and from class like 5 times. That right there is like 4 or 5 miles. It gets annoying being sweaty in class, but at least it's not sweaty and smelly. Or at least I hope not.
Anyways, after Czech class, I told my teacher that tomorrow was a Jewish holiday and because of that I wouldn't be in class. She quickly pointed out to me that tomorrow was in fact NOT a holiday, but a regular day of class. I of course tried explaining to her that Rosh HaShana is not a national holiday but a religious holiday, and therefore I was informing her that I will not be coming. No matter what. Her response [gotta love language gaps...]? She takes out the calendar and shows me that we do not have tomorrow off but have a break next month. I realized it wasn't worth my time arguing with the equivalent of a speaker at a McDonald's drive thru, so I just said bye. I later learned that someone else tried getting permission from the head of our program [who speaks perfect English], only to learn that we were more than welcome to go to services, but would still get unexcused absences [we unfortunately have mandatory attendance]. I guess the Iron Curtain hasn't fully fallen, and it still lingers in some people's minds over here.
After a full day of classes, and I mean (with the exception of walking to get meals) 830-1530 (my 1530 class was cancelled today luckily), I headed home to make my holiday feast. My meal, a 4 course spectacle, consisted of the following: apples and honey, a round challah for the holiday, a garden salald with NOLS specialty dressing (random proportions of salt, garlic, pepper, olive oil and balsamic vinegar), grilled chicken breast in hot sauce, pepper, and oregano, honey cake, and red wine. Yummmm. How was I supposed to know that the rabbi would later be serving dinner?
After finishing, I went to meet Aunt Sheri's friend from Oolpan, a Czech guy named Jaroslav. Jaroslav is an active member [or possibly higher up than that] in a synagogue here, but he gave me the schedule for 2 different shuls next door to one another so I'm not exactly sure which. After waiting outside for 15 minutes and realizing I didn't have a passport, I realized I wouldn't be getting into Staranova Synagoga (the oldest active shul in Europe). To elaborate:
The Old-New Synagogue has intense security. I'm not talking about O'hare security, or even Ben Gurion security. I'm talking about ex-Israeli special forces guys who want to know not only why you are there, but that you deserve to be there. In addition to hearing people be quizzed about their stay and purpose in Prague, I heard the following [in response to a woman saying she has worked for the US consolate for a year], "and what is the ambassador's name?... how long has he been stationed in the Czech Republic? ... what exactly is your business relation with him, and would he be able to identify you?" Of course the last question was BS, but the guy actually new the answers to the first 2 somehow. I heard other people asked about their religiosity, their knowledge of their faith, and their last experience with it. I watched old people wait and young people get patted down, goyish looking people interrogated and super Jews become frantic. These guys were sharp.
Since I couldn't find Jaroslav and wasn't going to get in, I went next door to the High Synagogue, a shul on the 2nd floor that had been around since the mid-1500's. This service was led in English by the rabbi affiliated with all of the American exchange programs. It was a nice service, and the herring was fantastic (of course the apples and honey were decent, and the wine was tasty, but the herring really stood out). Knowing that all of the young people there were American, and many were his students, the Rabbi invited all of us to his house for a pot luck. I could only offer myself, but for some reason, my company was desired. Of the 20 or so students, about 15 were on the CET program [not mine, and it only has 15 kids on it], 3 were on my program, 2 were from the business program, and 6 of the students were from Emory. It's unbelievable how you can go 5000 miles from home, and you're still surrounded by Jews from your school.
The potluck was actually just the CET kids didn't have to have class today in exchange for them preparing something. They luckily made enough for the rest of us, and on our walk to the Rabbi's, we all stopped to pick up a gigantic jug of wine. Although it was far from tasty, it wasn't actually 'bad,' and definitely was a nice follow up to my previous dinner's drinks. Combined with a few appetizers, some matzoh ball soup, some couscous and chicken, the meal was quite satisfying and the company was nice. The desserts were surprisingly really tasty for homemade [by students] pareve desserts, and have left me glad that I found this service right next door. Hopefully tomorrow I'll get into the Old-New Synagogue (even though sermons will probably be in Czech), but will join up with the other Americans for Taslich. Shana Tova umetukah to all!

Day of the Restaurants, and thus the -itis

As many foods as I have fallen in love with, 1 stands out more than the rest, and I have severely missed it since my arrival in Europe. That godly gift, truly sent to Mankind from the Heavens, is peanut butter. Man, have I missed peanut butter. And not wanting to steal anyone else's food in my apartment, I have been dying to have it since I arrived [although reluctant to purchase such an American product when I could get myself some 'canned gulash']. So, for breakfast, along with 2 bananas, I stole a spoonful of peanut butter and a spoonful of nutella and made an unbelievable sandwich. As divine as this was, let me remind you all that I am consuming is dark bread here. Dark bread is not white, it is not whole wheat, it is not rye, it isn't even pumpernickel. It is plain old dry. And when combined with extra chunky peanut butter, all I can say is that I should have sat down and eaten it instead of taking it to go. I just wish I had had some water to wash it down, because as amazing as it was, I could barely chew yet alone open my mouth for like 20 minutes. Mmmm, delicious.
Anyways, my Art and Architecture class met at 10 am near Prague Castle, so I gave myself 30 minutes to get there [instead of 10 like yesterday]. We first explored the Czech Senate Garden, a magnificent, hidden garden that you would never guess is 15 yards away from a subway stop. One literally walks through a gate, and steps back 400 years into a Renaissance designed garden, filled with supreme statues, a perfect pond, and gorgeous grass. Did I mention there was a peacock prancing around the grass? Yes, an actual peacock, minding its own business, just walking around like all the tourists. I wonder if it felt as out of place as the Italians did.After walking through this garden [supposedly there are many more hidden behind walls in Prague], we went over to Strahovska Zahrada, or the Strahov Monastery. As much as I would have loved to share pictures with you, it costs an extra 50 krown to take pictures within the monastery, so it really wasn't worth it. Had my teacher been able to get us 'back stage passes' (which she actually could have done because an old student of hers became a monk who studies there [and is unfortunately in Italy for the month]), then I might have coughed up the few extra bucks. Oh well, the jist of it is that they had a ton of really old books and an awesome collection of 'stuff.' To elaborate:
-I saw a manuscript from the ninth century. And in case you don't believe that people have gotten smarter, they had barely any vocabulary [even though it was in Latin] and tons of drawings. The 13th century manual was much more intricately designed, with words taking up the whole page and much brighter and more beautiful colors. That summarizes the manuscripts.
-I saw tons of books. Literally, tons. The philosophy library that these monks had has over 60,000 volumes, and the theology libary had over 40,000. They also had 'forbidden books' locked in shelves that were Protestant and Jewish texts that might corrupt regular monks and may therefore only be read by the really high up bald dudes.
-They also preserved nature. As vague as this sounds, imagine a pressed rose or a dead butterfly that has been pinned inside a picture frame. Now imagine 1000 butterflies like that, along with 100+ other types of bugs. Now imagine that for shells, leaves, nests, fruits, animals, fish, and flowers. Just giant cabinets filled with 'nature,' preserved in prestine condition for the past ___ centuries [it varied from 2 to like 8].
I guess I became real exhausted, because we went for Mexican food nearby my apartment after the field trip (I got 'pigs in a blanket,' mini sausages wrapped in fried tortillas) and I got the -ITIS. Because some may not know that slang, it basically means that after eating lunch, I got real lazy and needed a nap. I slept for like 3 hours and have still been tired all night. Dillon and I then went to dinner at our corner restaurant, and I had some great bleu cheese vegetable soup.
Talk about a day of restaurants, because on our walk home, we met Yarda at the base of our apartment where a new Mediterranean restaurant has opened. Since it's been open a week, they had 50% off all drinks tonight, along with their usual belly-dancer Saturdays. Fun yet short night.
And finally, anyone still reading this is probably pretty bored. Not just because you're reading my blog, but this has been the most boring post of possibly the most boring blog you could find. So, since you have enough time to read this, I figured you have enough time to look at pictures too (and probably would like to as well). Thus, my Flikr album has been put up, and it is slowly but surely getting pictures (today's trip to the garden will be added shortly). To get there, please click the following link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bohemianbabble/. Enjoy!

Czech Suburbs

30 minutes ago, Robert and I heard a minute's worth of gunshots outside. Just prior to him jumping under the table, I informed him that the Russians were not actually invading, and that it was just fireworks. So we went to our window and watched fireworks for about 10 minutes while I stole some of his ice cream. It was pretty fun. Also, I have just paid for a flikr account because the free account allows me 30 pictures a month, and I have taken about 150 photos so far. When I finish setting that up, I will obviously post the link on this blog. And now onto the rest of the day, which was quite depressing.
The day started with me deciding between getting to the bus on time, and eating a hearty breakfast. Although I could have, and should have, been able to do both, I figured there was no point. Anyways, remembering that we weren't served lunch until about 3pm, I made myself some eggs and got to the bus as it was pulling away [literally]. We then proceeded to what could have been a really nice suburb. Being only 30 minutes and having lovely rolling hills, Lidice truly could have become a really nice place. That is, until the Germans decided otherwise.
In 1942, Hitler assigned Reinhard Heydrich to be in charge of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia (the pre-WW2 and post-WW2 Czechoslovakia which lost Slovakia during the war). Being legitimately extremely pissed off and knowing his plans of travels, Czech fighters trained by the RAF planned a fantastic execution that left one of Hitler's main guys dead on the side of the road. Before the funeral was even over, Hitler decided to use Lidice as an example to all.
Nazi troops put 4 bullets in every male over 15 and put every woman on a truck to a concentration camp. They then relocated Aryan looking children, sent others to camps, and gased the rest. [The children's memorial - a statue of the 82 children ranging from 0-15 years old who died - took over 20 years to build.]

Once everyone was gone, German soldiers burned the town, uprooted the dead, and cut down the trees to make sure nothing was left. They then bombed the whole place in case they had missed anything. [The only remnants of Lidice. The spot where the church was has been planted over with grass, but this wall survived in a nearby building.]

Did I mention Lidice had absolutely nothing to do with Heydrich's assassination?[The traditional welcome to a camp, 'Work makes you free,' greets those entering Terezin too.]

After 2 hours of silent introspective walking, we left the village and headed farther north to Terezin. Being such a good fortress for the Habsburg Monarchy since 1780, the Germans realized that anything that keeps people out will surely keep them in too. Thus Terezin became the concentration camp that all know it as. Pictures may be worth a thousand words, but a thousand pictures would still do no justice in description. The worst part, however, about Terezin is that this was considered the country club camp by the Nazis. In case this doesn't make sense, I will try to further explain.[Windowed single cell (most didn't have windows or such high ceilings) for non-Jewish political prisoners. Jews were for the most part in group cells, and some political Jewish prisoners had much smaller cells]

Before all Jews were forced into all camps, Jews were 'recruited' into camps so that the Germans could say they were going of their own will. Even though the Jews had no choice, the Nazis still tried enticing them in. Thus propoganda films were produced showing the decency of the relocation camps, and the opportunities of Jewish solidarity that were not offered in the rest of society. Terezin was used as this example, and the propoganda video that survived is absolutely disgusting and 99.99% inaccurate. That .01% is the fact that it was actually shot on location using Jews [you can tell by the forced facial expressions], even if they were fed extra food for the shot and the place was more than just tidied up. Knowing that this was considered the nicest camp in German eyes makes the whole plan even more disgusting, more detestable, and more dispicable.

Dolphins are just Gay Sharks

This post has absolutely nothing to do with the title; I just remembered that when we got back to our hotel at 8pm Saturday night in Munich, 1 of the guys had that written on his arm by an Australian guy. Anyways, I again meant to do laundry and forgot, and if I hadn't decided to pack a ton of clothes, I'd be in the same clothes for the past 4 days [I luckily also bought a shirt at Oktoberfest so I had something to wear today]. O well, I did half the laundry [a full load] when I got back from class because our machine only holds 8 pieces of clothing at a time. I chose to mix it up with like 6 small things and 2 big ones so that they'll all fit on our clothes rack for drying.
I then decided that the 5 groceries I have in my apartment weren't enough, so I went shopping! For exactly 3 USD [damn our dying economy, last week it would have only cost me 2.50], I got 2 kiwis, a kilo of radishes, a roll, an apple, and beef stew in a can [gulash]. Who would have known that my favorite foods are considered the absolute drek in the Czech Republic, and thus are cheaper than dirt! Other dirt cheap Czech shopping list items include garlic, onions, potatoes, and cheese. It's like I was meant to study here for purely economic reasons.
Although I haven't tried the canned gulash [I think it's going to taste like a Czech version of spaghetti-o's, but it's actually a real, delicious food that's served in restaurants here], I'm sure it'll provide a variation from my cheese sandwiches, meat sandwiches, eggs with salami, eggs with cheese, and the occasional salad. Although my meal choices may have no variation, I have begun purchasing and consuming food this week, despite it going against the Czech culture.
On my way home from the grocery store, the skies saw fit to remind me of Alaska! Not by showing me an unbelievable landscape, however, or by getting me lost in a real remote land, but by opening up and letting all hell break lose. Again. G-d must love pouring rain down on this city as much as its citizens love drinking beer. I luckily keep a mini umbrella in my backpack at all times, which I even had to use on my way to yoga 4 hours later.
I have since noticed that my laptop is about to burn a whole in my jeans because it is running so hot. A side effect of this is the 1.5 hour battery life, which shortens if I type anything. Thus, I have been trying to underclock my computer, which is a real waste of time because I should have figured this out 4 years ago when I was actually interested in this shit. Did I mention that the new monitoring program I download claims my computer is running at about 59 degrees Celsius right now? Oh well, at least that's better than the 65 degrees it was an hour ago...