I know you all have been waiting for our adventures from our last day in Prague! I am sorry I have been keeping you waiting! Our days have been so full of sightseeing, rehearsals, performances, and soaking in the culture! Time has flown by! Don’t you fret…wait no more! The last day in Prague included our first full concert performance at the Church of St. Nicholas, but before we headed over to the Malá Strana where we meet up with Pavel and Martina to tour the Jewish museum, the Old-New Synagogue, the Jewish Cemetery, and the Spanish Synagogue.
The Old New Synagogue or Altneuschul,situated in Josefov, Prague, is Europe's oldest active synagogue. Completed in 1270 in gothic style, it was one of Prague's first gothic buildings.An unusual feature found in the nave of this synagogue is a large red flag near the west pillar. The flag features a Star of David with a hat in the center which is the style typically worn by Jews of the 15th century.
The name is derived from the Hebrew עַל תְּנַאי (al tnay), which means "on condition" and sounds identical to the Yiddish "alt-nay," or old-new. According to legend angels have brought stones from the Temple in Jerusalem to build the Synagogue in Prague—"on condition" that they are to be returned, when the Messiah comes, i.e., when the Temple in Jerusalem is rebuilt and the stones are needed.
The Old Jewish Cemetery is the largest Jewish cemetery in Europe and one of the most important Jewish historical monuments in Prague. During the time that the cemetery was in active use, the cemetery continually struggled with the lack of space and due to Jewish law, graves are not allowed to be abolished for piety and respect for the deceased ancestors.
Grave stones are very plain in design and small in size. Larger grace stones distinguished higher status and wealth. You will not see any decorations on these graves. Instead you will see stones placed on and around the grave stones. There is a superstitious belief that the stones keep the soul down because they believe that souls continue to dwell for a while in the graves in which they are placed. The grave, called a beit olam (a permanent home), was thought to retain some aspect of the departed soul. Stones are more than a marker of one’s visit; they are the means by which the living help the dead to “stay put.” Flowers eventually die, but stones “stay put.”
One design on a grave stone is two hands, with middle and ring fingers parted to form a V (often with the thumbs touching), which is a symbol of a Jewish priestly blessing.
You will also find grave stones with little pieces of paper stuck into the cervices of the stone. These pieces of paper have wishes or prayers written on them by visitors.
We then headed over to St. Nicholas Church where we had our first full concert performance. We began the performance on the steps outside of the church where we sang “Great God Almighty” to entice locals and tourists to come in and listen to our full-length concert performance! And BOY did it work! This was such a cool experience and made us so thrilled for more performances to come.
We said good-bye to this lovely city that we will cherish the memories we have shared together, but we now jump on a bus to drive towards our next stop….Salzburg, Austria!
As we drove into Austria, we made a quick stop to take a tour o St. Florian at the local monastery. Itis an Augustinian monastery in the town of Sankt Florian, Austria. Founded in the early ninth century and is the largest monastery in Upper Austria. The monastery is dedicated to Saint Florian, whose fourth century grave lies beneath the monastery.
Construction of the library wing began in 1744 andcomprises about 130,000 items, including many manuscripts.
The canons' church was elevated to a basilica minor in 1999. It is dedicated to Saint Florian and Saint Augustine. St. Florian's Priory possesses two organs, the larger one of which is known as the "Bruckner organ" (Brucknerorgel) and contains four manuals, 103 stops and 7,343 pipes.
We not only got to sing in one of the halls you see above, but we ad an opportunity to practice a couple pieces in front of the churches band!
This was such a beautiful break from traveling! We then hit the road again and finished our trek to Salzburg, Austria!
I cannot wait to tell you about the adventures we have had on day one of Salzburg…….
But you will just have to wait! What I can promise you……it will be so worth what we have in store for you!
On another note: It is President Dietz's birthday today!
We sent him a Happy Birthday, sending love from Austria!!!!
Goodnight Redbirds! Until another post!
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