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In Golem's Shadow: The Jews of Prague between Reality and Fiction
Sunday, March 6
Dear
friends, unfortunately this talk to be cancelled due to an emergency of
our speaker which prevents him to give the presentation. We are sorry
about this inconvenience
About this talk
Jews arrived to the Czechlands before the 9th century, and historians still argue whether these were the Ashkenazic or Byzantine Jews. The first mention of the royal city of Prague comes from a Jewish source. Eventually the town became home to once the largest Jewish community in the world; a great Torah centre, home not only of timeless giants such as the Or Zarua, the Maharal or the Noda B'yehuda, but also to tens of thousands of ordinary Jews who sleep their everlasting dream at one of the most iconic cemeteries of the world.
The former Jewish Quarter of Prague is part of the UNESCO World Heritage List, and modern personalities of unquestionable influence on the course of history such as Zecharias Fränkel, Isaac Wise, Franz Kafka, Albert Einstein or Madeleine Albright have all once called the Czechlands their home.
The city's yiddishkeit is so
immense and ever-present that the ancient Old New Synagogue, the oldest working
shul of the world, inspired Theodore Herzl to write his pivotal text of modern
Zionism. Did Hitler really build a
"Museum of Extinct Race" in Prague - and how did the Golem oppose him? Why is
the story of interwar Czechoslovakia and Terezín a key to unlocking aspects
of modern Jewish identity?
We will also cover the revival of the Czech Jewish community that almost ceased to exist in the 1980's due to Holocaust and Communism, and its current renaissance, which brings along new challenges.
About David
David Kraus was born in Prague into a Czech Jewish family whose ancestors first appear in the records of the town already by the 14th Century. David's paternal grandfather František R. Kraus Z"L was a famous liberal journalist, writer, anti-nazi activist before WWII, friend with Kafka, Kisch and Masaryk - and a well-known holocaust survivor after the war.
David became one of the leading youth activists of the Czech Jewry in the late 1990's and the 2000's. He served as chair of the Czech Union of Jewish Students and as a lay leader of the Czech Jewish Community for over a decade, coordinating a number of projects in the Czech Republic, eg. Birthright, Stolpersteine, JudaFest, Yom Ha'Shoah or the Moishe House.
David pursued his degree in history and political science at the Charles University of Prague, focusing mainly on WWII and the 20th century and, subsequently, spent almost two years abroad, graduating from the Paideia Hebrew Studies in Stockholm in 2010. He also pursued his Holocaust Studies at Yad Vashem and completed the Torah Hebrew Study Program at Hebrew University of Jerusalem in 2011. David is currently continuing his PhD studies at the Theological Faculty of Prague.
David has been successfully running a Jewish-interest tour company for many years, but till this day he also retains his role as an active member of the Czech Jewish Community, both internally and in the wider general Czech society.
You may also be interested in
Jewish Heritage of Hungary on March 13
To be a Jew in Estonia on March 20
The Music and History of Klezmer on March 24
This event is a live experience. RECORDINGS WON'T BE AVAILABLE AFTER THE TALK
Choose your contribution amount
With your contribution you will also be donating to "Gan Bejachad", a one-of-a-kind Jewish kindergarten and nursery in Prague that operates for several dozen children who study bilingually in Czech and Hebrew and which offers kosher meals.
Select below your type of admission. You will be asked to pay with credit card.
