Jews And Gentiles: JSBP Visits the Synagogue

            The JSBP field studies excursions have given the group a once in a lifetime opportunity to experience aspects of cultures that are unique and might be vastly different from what the group is used to.  This week’s field visit was no exception.  This past Wednesday the JSBP was able to visit the famous Dohány Street Synagogue and Jewish museum located in an area of Budapest known as the Jewish quartier.  The synagogue is the second largest in the world in terms of size, after the Satmar Synagogue in New York, and is currently the largest in Europe.  However, the largest in terms of capacity is Belz Great Synagogue in Jerusalem.

View of the synagogue from the street

            To say that the architecture of the synagogue was beautiful would be a gross understatement, because the structure is actually an architectural miracle.  The whole building is supported by sections of steel columns stacked side by side in groups of two.  Aesthetically, this method was seen as avant-garde and was not well liked by the hoi polloi.  However, when the synagogue was bombed during the Second World War it was because of the steel column structure that the building remained standing and was not destroyed.  Another unique aspect of the buildings architecture was how the interior of the building mimics the layout of a basilica instead of a typical Jewish temple.  It was explained to us that this was done as a way of assimilating to the Christian majority present in Budapest.

Temple or Basilica? Temple.

            Since most of the group has never visited a synagogue before we were able to find some very interesting things about how they are built.  For example, one of the most fascinating things we found out was that according to Jewish tradition the holiest place in the temple must face Jerusalem.  Another interesting thing about this particular synagogue is that behind the altar there is a pipe organ, something not commonly found in a synagogue.  According to the Jewish faith, one cannot work on the Sabbath and since organ playing is considered a profession the organ cannot be played during services.  However, in order to work around this the synagogue employs an outsider to Judaism—a gentile—to play the organ.

Altar that faces Jerusalem

            Attached to the synagogue was the Jewish Museum of Budapest.  This was a very interesting experience, because many of the holy relics that were in the synagogue were explained.  Some of the most interesting things we saw there were the special pieces designated to the Torah—the sacred texts of Judaism.  There were many pieces designed to adorn the scroll when it is out away, such as, a chest plate, a crown, and a fabric cover.  Another interesting thing we learned was that the Torah is always hand written and human hands can never touch it.  In order to read the document one must use a pointer tool, the tip of which resembles a human right hand with the index finger extended.

Pajamas and other articles of clothing worn by jews in concentration camps

            The last stop on our tour was to a room dedicated to remembering the holocaust.  Not matter how much one has learned about the atrocities of the holocaust, the extraordinary feeling one gets when seeing actual artifacts is always overwhelming.  In one particular display case were two pairs of pajamas, a man’s and a woman’s that were worn in a concentration camp.  Each stain and tare on the garments had their own horrible story.  This exhibition was heart wrenching.