Evening programmes in the Education & Culture Centre

Education and Culture Centre

<<<< Previous month Next month >>>>

February 12

Wednesday 8 February, 6 p.m.: The Feast of Tu Bishvat in Midrashic Literature. A lecture by Karol Efraim Sidon, Chief Rabbi of Prague and the Czech Republic, dealing with the topic of the Feast of Tu Bishvat as “The New Year of Trees”. Special attention will be paid to the stories in which Ta´anit scholar Honi ha Meágel and his descendants appear.

Thursday 9 February, 6 p.m.: Oman: The Country of Sultans and Old Forts. A travel lecture by Jan Neubauer in which we will have a look at Wadi Shab, the earth castles of Jabrin and Bahla and of course at the capital city of Muscat, whose Jewish minority was written about by well-known Jewish traveller Benjamin of Tudela in the century. The lecture is organized in collaboration with the travel agency Adventura. Admission CZK 50,-

Tuesday 14 February, 6 p.m.: Jewish Violin of Alexander Shonert. Natalia Shonert accompanies on the piano. The concert consists of an arrangement of national melodies, Alexander Shonert´s improvisations and pieces of Jewish composers of classical music. The programme reflects the journey of the Jewish violin from the Orient, across old Europe to contemporary Prague. The journey is one of joy, tears and mysticism, a journey that creates a bridge between the past and present. Admission CZK 60,-

Thursday 16 February, 6 p.m.: Israel and the Conversion to Judaism. A lecture by former Prague Rabbi Daniel Mayer who has been dealing with the phenomenon of conversion to Judaism for a long time. His book titled Conversion to Judaism in the Mirror of Jewish Oral Tradition and History (OIKOYMENH,) was published not long ago – in 2010. The main topic of the lecture will be the problems with conversion in Israel. The book will be available for purchase at the lecture.

Wednesday 22 February, 6 p.m.: Life after a Disaster. A long time ago Prague was known among European Jews as a “ir va-em be-jisrael” – a city and mother in Israel, which means that it was an important centre of life for Jewish people. After the Nazi occupation a lot of Jewish monuments but only a few of its people remained in Prague. Under the hard conditions of the post-war democracy and communist regime the people tried to renew the Jewish community and its institutions and at least to bind symbolically the fame of Prague kehila. The permanent exhibition of the modern history of the Jews in Prague, which was installed in Autumn 2011 in the Jubilee Synagogue in Jerusalem Street, records their effort. Martin Šmok, a documentary film-maker, created the libretto of the exhibition. He succeeded in collecting unique visual material of which the visitors to the exposition will only see a part. The film-maker will talk with Petr Brod about the development of the Jewish community from the liberation in 1945 to the “Velvet Revolution”.

Monday 27 February, 6 p.m.: Judaism through the Eyes of Jewish Luminaries: Jehuda ha-Levi. A new series of lectures presents the profiles of ten Jewish scholars from the Middle Ages to the present, each of them bringing a unique vision of Jewish tradition. A lecture by Daniel Boušek from the Faculty of Arts at Charles University deals with the personality of Jewish philosopher and poet Jehuda ha –Levi (around 1075 – 1141). He is known particularly for his work Cuzari whose translation from an original Arabic work Daniel Boušek is currently preparing for publishing. The study materials concerning this topic will be available at the lecture. This series was prepared thanks to a courteous support of NFOH (Foundation for Holocaust Victims).

Sunday programme for children and their parents

12 February, 2 p.m.: Lion Cub Arje Celebrates Tu Bishvat (The New Year of Trees).

Do you know why trees have a new year? Can you list seven crops of the land of Israel? If not, never mind. Lion Cub Arje will help you and you can taste some of them for sure.

Tour: The Old Jewish Cemetery Flat admission CZK 50,-