So the blog fell by the wayside for a bit but we were doing toursity things so I will just briefly run through our activities. We toured the castle of Prague in the afternoon (beautiful views!) and then walked down to the Jewish quarter. This was probably one of the most interesting parts of Prague. The city was meant to be a museum for the Jews following their destruction in the holocaust. So, there are beautiful, ornate temples filled with incredible menorahs and torah accessories. Then it was time for shabbat so we went to services at one of the temples. It was really enjoyable because Rabbi Lynn led the service and it was just our group, so even though it was entirely in hebrew I was familiar with some of the prayers. Then we headed back to the hotel and stayed up singing songs until around 1am. During this trip we learned to sing "niguns" or songs without words. Its a lot of nai nai la la etc. I could never understand the significance of such songs but Yoni (one of the trip leaders) told us this story:
A rabbi gave a letter to one of his followers to deliver to a rabbi in the next town over. The man was told not to open the letter but curiosity got the best of him and he opened it..and found NOTHING. It was empty. The man was extremely confused and a bit frustrated because he had to make a substantial journey to deliver the empty envelope. Upon return the rabbi could tell that the man was distressed and after questioning the man caved and confessed to having opened the letter. Then the rabbi explained. He said that he always wrote to the other rabbi to say that a building had burned down, there was an accident of sorts, things were going well and the like. But, when nothing of note was going on he wanted to express his love for the other rabbi. But, if he said "I love you" one could infer that he does not respect the man or he does not feel any other accompanying emotion. So, he sent a blank envelope to convey his emotions because words could not do them justice....and this is why we sing wordless songs: they are able to express everything that words cannot.
On Saturday I went across the famous Charles Bridge. Fun fact: over the statue of christ are the letters of the hebrew prayer kadosh (the holiest of hebrew prayers basically says the lord is our god). This is one of the most disrespectful things I have ever seen..the letters were put up by a Jewish man as a form of punishment. People have filed complaints and attempted to have this taken down but the compromise was that a sign was added which explains the circumstances under which the lettering was completed.
Then we had our final banquet where everyone gave a speech. I talked about how Nana told me the story about her neighbors sitting shiva for their daughter who married a non-jew. I told the group that I am not someone who can do things without understanding the purpose, so I was not prepared to marry a Jewish boy just because I was told to do so. I could also never really understand the significance behind being Jewish..I went to temple twice a year and got together with family for holidays and that was about the extent of my Jewish experience. I get it now. I understand that being Jewish is a privilege and if jews in the Warsaw ghetto could have a sedar before carrying out the uprising, I can surely make the time to follow jewish teaching to the best of my ability. After the banquet we all went to a bar by the hotel and sat around discussing our experiences for a bit. At 3 am we headed to Prague airport and at 430 US time we arrived in Philadelphia.
That is the end of my Spring break 2010
No comments:
Post a Comment