Prague פראג
The capital of Jewish Central Europe: city of the Maharal, the Altneuschul and the legend of the Golem.
Prague's community was among Europe's oldest and richest; its Altneuschul, built in the thirteenth century, still functions and is considered the oldest continuously used synagogue in Europe. Beside it lies the old cemetery, where stones stand twelve layers deep because the community was never allowed more land.
In the late sixteenth century Rabbi Yehuda Loew ben Bezalel—the Maharal—lived here. His books are a philosophy of history and exile written in austere language, and his educational programme (Tanakh, then Mishna, then Gemara, each at the right age) still sounds modern four centuries later. The legend of the Golem, formed from Vltava clay to protect the community, arose later but attached itself permanently to his name.
Prague was also a printing centre; its illustrated Haggadot of the sixteenth century were among the first of their kind.
On the timeline
Related
Sources
Acharonim and later rabbinic literature
- the Maharal, “Netzach Yisrael” — the book on exile, written in Prague
- the Maharal, “Gevurot Hashem” — the book on the Exodus — part of his system
- Tiferet Yisrael, ch. 56 — on the Torah and the purpose of the human being
Basis: tradition.