Sitting in the hostel living room this morning, I wondered how to fill the day until 3:00pm. There were things to see like the communist statue park, where Hungary’s Russian statuary was all collected in one place, but travel would take too long and returning on time would be risky. Then I heard one of the other guests mention seeing the second largest synagogue in the world. With this piece of information my morning was set.
The Dohany Street synagogue, named for the tobacco factory across the street, was only a ten-minute walk and from street appearances I almost missed it. Externally, the temple is built in a Moorish style and resembles more of a mosque than synagogue.
Once inside, with the aid of a guided tour, the reason was clear. In the mid-1800’s when the edifice was under construction, the Jewish community in Budapest was under an assimilation strategy. Intermarrying with gentiles was promoted and the synagogue was constructed in a style that would be attractive to Muslims and Christians alike. Internally, the building appears to be a chapel, complete with pipe organ and unused side pulpits. A Christian woman is still hired to this day to play the organ in support of the synagogue choir. This may be the only temple in the world with an actual choir.
Symbolically, both the eight-pointed star of King Solomon and the six-pointed Star of David are used, sometimes interlaced. After decades of integration the community realized that within a generation the Jewish roots would be lost, so a more conservative approach was taken with a return to tribal benefits, e.g. only Jewish couples could be married within the edifice.
The integrated community was not spared from the wrath of the Nazi regime. In the final nine months of Nazi control 600 thousand ethnic Jews were killed or roughly 10% of the estimated total atrocity. During the Nazi occupation the synagogue was spared destruction by the fact that the occupation authorities knew that it would frustrate the Jewish community more to use the synagogue as a Nazi government building, thus desecrating the complex. The ultimate extension of this was when three thousand Budapest community Jews were murdered in the courtyard and dumped in a mass grave. There are only three places in the world where people are buried on synagogue grounds and two are in the former eastern block, the other being Prague.
There is a willow tree made of stainless steel in the back courtyard, named the Raoul Wallenberg Memorial Park. Each leaf represents a person killed during the Nazi occupation. The tree was a donation by Tony Curtis, whose family comes from the Budapest Jewish community.
After the end of World War II the Hungarian Jewish community did not fair well with the communists either. The synagogue was turned into an unkempt museum, which means that it sat idle, subjected to weather and time. Fortunately, prior to the Nazi occupation a woman in the national museum secretly kept the historical toras and sacred relics in the basement. The communists did not destroy them but left them in storage.
After liberation from Russian oppression the synagogue was returned to the community in need of restoration. Estee Lauder, also of Hungarian Jewish descent stepped up and donated heavily to restore the building. Services are now held weekly in a side synagogue, with the high holidays celebrated in the main edifice and a packed house.
As the second largest synagogue in the world one would expect a colossus, but the building only holds about three thousand, including standing room. The largest synagogue is in New York City.
Budapest is a beautiful city with just enough Eastern Block era rebuilding happening to not be a tourist trap. It is very inviting, with a beauty that sets the city apart. If you have an interest, come quickly before there is a Mc Donald’s on every corner and the native charm is exchanged for trinkets and trash shops.
The very nice coincidence of the trip thus far is that even though my ticket was booked ten months ago, my sister just happens to be speaking at a “Tech Finance” conference in Prague. So instead of hostels, it will be the Hilton for the next three nights. What a welcome treat this is!
Pulling up to the hotel in an airport mini-van, Kristen was waiting outside. What a natural and cool surprise! We dumped off my backpacks in the room, ate a snack from the executive lounge and headed out into the city for a random evening exploration.
Prague is definitely more upscale than Budapest and has reaped the benefits of almost 15 years of strong tourism. Every imaginable fashion brand shop is present here, but the Gothic architecture still seems to overcome the influx of western commercialism. The city has amazing historical buildings and bridges. As we wandered across the river to the old part of town a familiar feeling struck.
I had been conveniently ignoring the periods of diminished energy, attributed the neck pain to several bad nights of sleep, and the unsettled system to changing diet. No sooner had we crossed the bridge than the warmth in my mouth told me that malaria had redeveloped out of its liver “hiding place”.
The beautiful thing was that Dr. Joy had the foresight to send me off with two courses of medication. So there was a sudden end to the evening and a beautifully comfortable Hilton bed was exactly the right place to be.
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