Prague-Day 3
On Shabbat, we spent the day on a more typical tour of Prague. We visited the Prague castle complex, the largest castle complex in Europe, which was rebuilt under Charles IV. The castle is beautiful with tall spires and two guards in front that reminded me of the Swiss Guard in Rome. We saw the guard change which was a neat and orderly procedure. We went into the Queen's personal prayer room which was ornate with paintings and gold and then into possibly the largest church in Europe. It has amazing stained glass windows, statues, and a turret with 287 steps leading to the top. Of course I went up with a few other students and we were able to see an aerial view of Prague-completely amazing!!!
After the castle, we walked down an artisans street leading out of the castle and to the Charles Bridge. The area is notorious for pick-pocketing so we had to watch our possessions carefully on the crowded bridge. It is also an artisans area, selling all sorts of crafts. We saw a man with a crank music box and a swing band! The purpose of our being there was to see a statue at the end of the bridge of Jesus, but above Jesus, Hebrew writing says, "kadosh, kadosh, kadosh, adonai tzva'ot," part of the Amidah. It is symbolic of how Jesus is the father of the 'real' Jewish people by the Christians who were in control of Prague. When the Czechs put the Hebrew letters back up, they put an alef(hebrew letter) on backwards!
My group Yitzhar went to a statue of the Maharal of Prague for Havdallah(end of Shabbat). In between blessings, we shared favorite experiences of our week and expectations for the following days-it was quite a meaningful service.
And then we departed for a 6 hr. drive to the Polish border!
