Slovakia: This Summer Travel the Slovak Jewish Heritage Route

Trencin, Slovakia. Former Synagogue (now art gallery). Photos: Samuel Gruber (2005) click here for more information

Slovakia: This Summer Travel the Slovak Jewish Heritage Route

Summer is here, and thousands - maybe tens of thousands - of tourists will go in hunt of Jewish sites in Europe. Twenty years after the fall of Communism and the opening of Central and Eastern Europe to visitors there is no slowdown in the number of individuals and groups on art, roots or religious pilgrimage to the former Jewish centers. Most visitors still make their way to the big four cities - Warsaw, Krakow, Prague and Budapest. But as readers of this blog know, there is much more of Jewish and, I think, general interest once one breaks from that standard itinerary.

Liptovský Mikuláš, Slovakia. Former Synagogue. Photo courtesy of Slovak Jewish Heritage Center. For more information click here.

This summer consider visiting Slovakia, a beautiful country of stunning scenery, historic towns and a wealth of fascinating Jewish sites. Centrally located, Slovakia contains cultural elements related to Poland to the north, Ukraine to the East, Hungary to the South and German and Czech speaking cultures to the West. For the past several years the Slovak Jewish Heritage Center in Bratislava under the leadership of Dr. Maros Borsky has worked with local Jewish communities and government agencies to put together a Slovak Jewish Heritage Route through the country. now, you can read about the route and get details on all the historic synagogues included.

The full publication about the route can be read on line or downloaded here.

The route includes Jewish heritage sites in Bratislava, Stupava, Malacky, Trnava, Šamorín, Sereď, Nitra, Komárno, Nové Zámky, Šurany, Šahy, Trenčín, Banská Štiavnica, Zvolen, Žilina, Liptovský Mikuláš, Košice, Spišská Nová Ves, Prešov, Spišské Podhradie, Bardejov.

Malacky, Slovakia. Former Synagogue (now an art school). Wilhelm Stiassny, arch. (1886). Photo courtesy of Slovak Jewish Heritage Center For more information click here.

Some of these buildings are still active synagogues, a few like Nitra, have been turned into Jewish museums and Holocaust memorials. Some buildings like Šamorín are art galleries, and others, such as Stupava are still empty or in restoration.

Most of these buildings are situated in interesting towns, and there are other Jewish sites- especially cemeteries - in close proximity. One can begin the trip in Bratislava - less than a hour from Vienna, and then head east. Travel by car is recommended, but backpackers could make use of trains and buses. Travel information is available on the Slovak Jewish Heritage Center website.

For armchair travelers, the Heritage Center maintains an online monuments database that can be consulted here.

Conference: Mikveh: Space, Function, Law and Motive in Wroclaw, Poland.

Cologne, Germany. Mikveh. Parts of the mikveh date at least to the 9th century. Most of the impressive structure visible today was rebuilt during the Romanesque period. Photo: Samuel Gruber 2007.

Mikveh. Mss. illustration. German, c. 1428. Hamburg Staats und Universitatsbibliothek, Codex hebr 37 folio 79, verso, dtl. This is one of the earliest (the earliest?) known representation of a mikveh.

Conference: Mikveh: Space, Function, Law and Motive in Wroclaw, Poland.

The 8th Wroclaw Conference in Jewish Studies is devoted to the them Mikveh: Space, Function, Law and Motive and will take place on May 25th-26th, 2011.

The conference is organized by the Jewish Studies Department of the Wroclaw University . The aim of the conference is to initiate interdisciplinary studies on the mikvah understood as a cultural and architectural space, connected with the tradition as well as the religious and state law. For more information please visit the website of the Jewish Studies Department of the Wroclaw University http://www.judaistyka.uni.wroc.pl/judaistyka

Siracusa (Sicily), Italy. Mikveh. Photo: Alberto Jona Falco in A. Sacerdoti, Guide to Jewish Italy.

Boskovice, Czech Rep. Mikveh in house basement across from synagogue. Photo: Samuel Gruber (2004)

Cleveland, Ohio (USA). Former mikveh, Morrison Ave. now Morrison Ave. Missionary Baptist Church, built 1925. Photo: Samuel Gruber (1997).

The conference language is Polish. Here is the schedule.

Conference Program (in Polish)

VIII Wrocławska Konferencja Judaistyczna
Mykwa – przestrzeń, funkcja, prawo i motyw

25 V 2011 (Instytut Filologii Polskiej, pl Nankiera 15, sala Nehringa)

9.45-10.45 otwarcie konferencji,
słowo wstępne:
Mariola Apanel (Urząd Miasta Wrocławia);
Rabin Icchak Rapoport (Gmina Wyznaniowa Żydowska we Wrocławiu): Mykwa według halachy (prawa żydowskiego i haszkafy (ideologii żydowskiej)


I sesja ( prowadząca Joanna Lisek)
11.00-11.30 Marta Kowalska (Uniwersytet Wrocławski): Rytualne łaźnie żydowskie na przestrzeni wieków
11.30-12.00 Bartłomiej Stawiarski (Uniwersytet Wrocławski): Mykwy aszkenazyjskie w średniowieczu
12.00-12.30 Lara Lempertiene (Uniwersytet Wileński): O biednych niewiastach i białych koszulach (czystość rytualna w czasachWaadu Litewskiego)
12.30-13.00 Ignacy Einhorn (Zawodowe Studium Medyczne w Kłodzku): Uzdrawiająca moc wody – mykwa z punktu widzenia historyka medycyny

13.00-13.15 przerwa

II sesja (prowadząca Bella Szwarcman – Czarnota)
13.15-13.45 Karolina Szymaniak (Uniwersytet Jagielloński): Genderowe odczytanie motywu mykwy w literaturze jidysz
13.45-14.15 Joanna Lisek (Uniwersytet Wrocławski): Problematyka mykw w księgach pamięci
14.15-14.45 Marzena Szugiero (Instytut Historii PAN): Obraz mykwy w reportażach Wandy Melcer Czarny ląd – Warszawa
14.45-15.15 Sylwia Karolak (Uniwersytet Adama Mickiewicza): Uniwersum polskich zobowiązań – o Mykwie Piotra Rowickiego raz jeszcze
15.15-15.45 Anna Małecka: The Mikvah Project - o współczesnym doświadczeniu mykwy

15.45-17.30 przerwa obiadowa

17.30 zwiedzanie synagogi i mykwy wrocławskiej
19:00 film produkcji czeskiej Golet v udoli (1995), reż. Zeno Dostal, scenariusz na podstawie powieści Ivana Olbrachta - Jana Dudakova [Synagoga pod Białym Bocianem]


26 V 2011 (Instytut Filologii Polskiej, pl Nankiera 15, sala Nehringa)

III sesja (prowadząca Agnieszka Jagodzińska)
9.00-9.30 Marek Tuszewicki (Uniwersytet Jagielloński): Cadyk w mykwie - rytuały oczyszczające Chaima Halberstama z Nowego Sącza (1793-1876)
9.30-10.00 Anna Ciałowicz (Gmina Wyznaniowa Żydowska w Warszawie): W mykwie na sadogórskim dworze
10.00-10.30 Piotr Grącikowski (Uniwersytet Wrocławski): Isze, nidde, mikwe - wierzenia, zwyczaje, przesądy ludu żydowskiego związane z menstruacją. Refleksje nad nienapisaną rozprawą Reginy Lilientalowej
10.30-11.00 Hanna Grzesiak (Uniwersytet Adama Mickiewicza): ”Mikwa parties” – ich przebieg i znaczenie w życiu wybranych etnicznych grup żydowskich
11.00 – 11.15 przerwa


IV sesja (prowadząca Karolina Szymaniak)
11.15-11.45 Monika Krawczyk (Fundacja Ochrony Dziedzictwa Żydowskiego): Ochrona mykw w Polsce.
11.45-12.15 Grzegorz Syrek (Pracownia Architektoniczna ASPA), Jerzy Kichler (Gmina Wyznaniowa Żydowska we Wrocławiu): Mykwa przy ulicy Włodkowica 9 we Wrocławiu - przestrzeń zapomniana – przestrzeń odzyskana
12.15-12.45 Agata Rybińska (Uniwersytet Wrocławski): Mykwa niechciana-mykwa zapomniana? - mykwa nieobecna w procesie modernizacji Żydów niemieckich w XIX wieku?
12.45-13.15 Tamara Włodarczyk (Uniwersytet Wrocławski): Przepisy prawne dotyczące mykw w Polsce w okresie dwudziestolecia międzywojennego i ich egzekwowanie na przykładzie powiatu włocławskiego

13.15-13.30 przerwa

V sesja (prowadząca Lara Lempertiene)

13.30-14.00 Bella Szwarcman-Czarnota (Stowarzyszenie „Midrasz”): Źródło Miriam w Torze i literaturze midraszowej
14.00-14.30 Aleksandra Przeździecka-Kujałowicz (Instytut Badań Literackich PAN): Nowe rytuały związane z mykwą.O feministycznym podejściu do tradycji rytualnego oczyszczenia
14.30-15.00 Anna Wiatr: Brud i ‘oko patrzącego’. Żydowski feminizm wobec przepisów ablucji kobiet
15.00-15.30 Artur Kamczycki (Uniwersytet Adama Mickiewicza): Jona w paszczy ryby. Genderowe refleksje nad wodą Zamknięcie i podsumowanie konferencji

Organizatorzy:
Zakład Studiów Żydowskich Uniwersytetu Wrocławskiego
Związek Żydowskich Gmin Wyznaniowych w RP Odział Wrocław
Patronat:
Fundacja Ochrony Dziedzictwa Żydowskiego w Polsce
e-wydawnictwo.eu Portal Publikacji Naukowych

Poland: Szczebrzeszyn Jewish Cemetery Restoration Project

Szczebrzeszyn, Poland. Jewish cemetery, new wall in construction. Photos courtesy of The Foundation for the Preservation of Jewish Heritage in Poland (2011)

Poland: Szczebrzeszyn Jewish Cemetery Restoration Project

The Foundation for the Preservation of Jewish Heritage in Poland has begun the first stage of the Szczebrzeszyn Jewish cemetery restoration project. The town is just a short drive west from Zamosc. Part of a large stone wall facing the Cmentarna St. is being erected.


The Jewish cemetery in Szczebrzeszyn was established established in the 16th century and was used until the World War II. today, over 2,000 matzevot (gravestone) survive, making it one of the best preserved Jewish cemeteries within the boundaries of modern Poland.

The Foundation for the Preservation of Jewish Heritage in Poland is implementing the 1st stage of the Szczebrzeszyn Jewish cemetery restoration project. Within its framework a part of the fence facing the Cmentarna St. is being erected. The Jewish cemetery in Szczebrzeszyn was established in the 16th century and used until the World War II. Over 2,000 matzevot (gravestones) are thought to survive there, making it one of the better preserved Jewish cemeteries within the boundaries of modern Poland - but everything is relative. Most stones are toppled, and only about 400 were clearly visible before work began, the others are covered with vegetation or have fallen and been covered with years of accumulated debris. Before the restoration began the area was filled with trash. To see pictures before the restoration click here.

Walling or fencing Jewish cemeteries is usually a necessary step to ensure their long term protection and preservation. Buildings wall, however, especially around large cemeteries, is a difficult and expensive endeavor.

See more pictures of the wall construction here.

Szczebrzeszyn, Poland. The synagogue has been used as a local cultural center. Photo: Wikipedia Commons.

Spain: Lorca's Medieval Synagogue Excavation Unharmed in Earthquake

Lorca, Spain. Two views of synagogue excavation with protective covering. Photos: Samuel Gruber, 2009.

Spain: Lorca's Medieval Synagogue Excavation Apparently Unharmed in Earthquake

by Samuel D. Gruber

According to friends in Lorca, the medieval synagogue was not damaged in yesterday's earthquake. That sounds odd to report, since the building is already a ruin. It was meticulously excavated over several seasons a few years ago. I've written about the excavation and the accompanying exhibition before. I am sure that the site will have to be carefully examined, but there were few tall elements to be weakened. The new protective cover over the site will need to be checked.

There were deaths reported in the southern Spanish town, and damage to the historic city town center. I'll post more news from Lorca and Murcia when I receive it.

The exhibition Lights of Sepharad was recently on view until March 27th at the city of Roman Theater Museum in Cartagena. Hopefully it was all securely packed at the time of the quake. Pieces of more than fifty glass synagogue oil lamps were found in the exhibition, and many of these were painstakingly reconstructed at the Archaeological Museum in Lorca.