Jewish Quarter

Prague has something that many other European capitals don't, which is a past couple hundred years of buildings undisturbed by war. I'm only appreciating this now, after having been in Berlin, where the Second World War still dominates many of the stories of buildings and people. Prague's oldest active synagogue was finished in 1270 and the New-Old Synagogue has weathered a lot, including flooding in 2002.

All in all, it was pretty interesting to look around three different synagogues and a slew of museums, but I'm beginning to realize that I should really limit my focus to Christian sacred architecture and this will be more than enough. I honestly didn't know what a traditional synagogue looked like until I walked into one and, having only been to a part of a service at Hillel, I don't know how the space would be used in a service either. Still, I liked looking at the different arks for different Torahs and exploring the different rooms.

There weren't any pictures allowed in the museums or in the synagogues, and the rules were much better enforced here than anywhere else in Prague, so all I have for you are pictures from the Old Jewish Cemetery, which is rather beautiful. I don't yet have an appreciation for a synagogue, but I'm quite comfortable with a graveyard. People sleeping peacefully in the comfort of the perpetual remembrance of their tombstones.

During my interview, I was asked what makes a space sacred, since I had proposed looking at a variety of locations. I kinda flubbed my answer, though I think it's still true- a space is made sacred by the people who visit there. Even though some buildings are purposed to be sacred spaces, places where the divine is invited to fill the space, we fill other places with a sacred atmosphere. It's amazing how easy it is to be contemplative among the graves, and how difficult amid the pews.