Prague’s Alte-Neue Synagogue has memorable history

By Garry Fabian

Garry Fabian
Prague’s Alte-Neue Synagogue

PRAGUE, Czech Republic  –Next to my own 147-year-old St. Kilda Hebrew Congregation in Melbourne, Australia, the synagogue to which I am most attached is the Alt Neue Shule here in Prague.  It is nearly 900 years old,

My family  arrived in Prague in September 1938 after that part of Czechoslovakia called Sudentland was annexed by Nazi Germany, where we had settled in 1936 after leaving Germany when Jewish life there was becoming severely restricted. However this move to Prague did not improve our situation when Germany occupied Prague in March 1939. We lived in Prague under Nazi rule until November 1942, when we were deported to the Thersienstadt Ghetto, We were part of the minority who hasd the good fortune to survive until liberation in May 1945. (In the four years between 1941 – 1945 some 15,000 children under the ages of 14 passed through the Ghetto, around 120 survived at the end of the war)

The Old New Synagogue or Alt-Neueschul situated in the Prague suburb of Josefov is Europe’s oldest active synagogue, and is also the oldest surviving medieval synagogue of twin-nave design. It was completed in 1270 in gothic style and was one of Prague’s first gothic buildings. A still older Prague synangogue, know as the Old Synagogue, was demolished in 1867 and replaced by the Spanish Synagogue.

The synangogue was originally called the Neue or Great Synagogue, and later, when newer synagogues were built in the 16th century, Old-New Synagogue. Another explanation derives the name from the Hebrew al tnay, which means “on condition” and sounds identical to the Yiddish alt-nay or old-new. There is an old legend associated with the building – which says angels have brought stones from the Temple in Jerusalem to build the Synagogue in Prague – “on condition – that they are returned, when the Messiah comes and the Temple in Jerusalem is rebuilt and the stones are needed.

Domed interior of the Alte-Neue Synagogue

The interior of the synangogue follow an old gothic layout.  Nine steps lead from the street into the vestibule, from which a door opens into a double nave with six vaulted bays. This double-nave system was most likely adapted from plans of monasteries and chapels by the synagogue’s Christian architects.

The moulding on the tympanum of the synagogue’s entryway has a design that incorporates twelve vines and twelve bunches of grapes, said to represent the twelve tribes of Israel. Two large pillars aligned east to west in the middle of the room each support the interior corner of four bays. The bays have two narrow gothic windows on the sides, for a total of twelve, again representing the twelve tribes. The narrow windows are most likely responsible for many older descriptions of the bulding as being dark. It is now brightly illuminated by several electric chandeliers.

The vaulting on the six bays has five ribs instead of the typical four or six. It has been suggested that this was an attempt to avoid association with the Christian cross. There is considerable dispute with this theory, pointing to synagogues that have quadripartite ribs, and Christian buildings that have unusual five rib designs.

The bimah is located between the two pillars.The base of the bimah repeats the twelve vine motif fund on the tympanum. The Aron Kodesh is located in the middle of the customary eastern wall. There are five steps leading to the Ark and two stained glass windows on either side above it. The lectern in front of the ark has a square well a few inches below the main floor for the chazan to stand in.

The twelve lancet windows in the synangogue, which direct light towards the bimah, is said to have compared the structure to Solomon’s Temple.

The synagogue has separate seating for men and women, as do all Orthodox synangogues. Women sit in the outer room with small windows looking into the main sanctuary. The framework of the roof, the gable, and party wall date from the Middle Ages.

An unusual feature found in the nave of this synagogue is a large red flag near the west pillar. In the centre of the flageis a Magen David and in its centre is a hat in the style worn by Jews of the 15th century. Both hat and star are stiched in gold. Also stiched, in gold is the text of Shema Yisrael. Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor awarded the Jewish community its own banner in recognition for their services to the defence of Prague during the Thirty Years War. The banner on display today is a modern reproduction.

A representation of the legendary Golem

The other link to the Alte Neue synagogue is the legend of the Golem. The Golem was said to be created by Rabbi Judah Loew ben Bezalel in the late 16th century from clay taken from the banks of the Vlatava river and brought to life by inserting a holy scroll in its mouth to defend the Prague ghetto from anti-Semitic attacks and progroms. The Golem was called Josef and was known as Yossele. The legend goes on to tell that the rabbi deactivated the golem by removing the scroll on Friday evening so it could rest on Shabbat, and that the body of the golem still lays in the attic of the synagogue.

A modern legend has added to the story of the Golem. During World War II a Nazi agent entered the attic, but perished when he touched the Golem, In the event the Gestapo did not enter the attic during the war, and the building was spared during the Nazi’s destruction of synagogues.

After the Jewish population was deported from Prague in the early 1940’s, the Nazi plan was to make the synagogue a museum of a race that no longer existed. In 1945 when the war ended, The Alte Neue Shule once again became a working synagogue and contines to serve the Jewish community in Prague.

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Fabian is a freelance writer based in Melbourne, Australia.  He may be contacted via garry.fabian@sdjewishworld.com