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Wednesday, November 17, 2010

The Menorah That Traveled the World Hamodia2010

The Menorah that Traveled the World
The story of the menorah that was lent to the White House
By Debbie Shapiro

LEAD My husband and I were about to take leave of Dr. Leo Pavlat, Director of Prague's world famous Jewish Museum. We were taking advantage of our nine-hour stopover in Prague to hear, first hand, the story of Prague's menorah that had been lent to the White House for President Obama's first Chanukah in office.

Prague's Jewish Museum is enormous, and what the visitor sees is just the tip of the iceberg. In addition to the items on display, there are literally thousands of historically valuable artifacts either in storage or in the archives. With over half a million tourists visiting the museum annually, the museum has become one of Prague's most famous tourist sites, as well as a major source of revenue for Prague's Jewish community. 

But it wasn't always this way. In 1994, when Dr. Pavlat took over as the museum's director, the museum was hidden away from the eyes of visitors and far from being profitable. When I expressed my amazement to Dr. Pavlat at how he had taken charge of a neglected, rundown institution and transformed it to a museum of international fame, the gracious Director smiled modestly and responded, "I'd prefer to be the director of a small museum with a vibrant, living Jewish community, than of a huge, world famous museum with a tiny community." END LEAD
"Although it's common knowledge that the Nazis created the Prague Jewish museum to memorialize what they assumed would soon be an extinct race, it's not true. The museum was established in 1906, long before the rise of Hitler, and then closed its doors on March 15, 1939, when the Nazis occupied Bohemia and Moravia. A few years later, in 1942, Dr. Augustin Stein, one of the original founders of the museum, suggested to the Nazis that they reopen it. His intention was two-fold: to save some of the confiscated precious manuscript and artifacts from being destroyed and to create jobs for himself and his colleagues that would save them from being sent to the gas chambers.
"Despite the horrific conditions, Dr. Stein and his colleagues did an excellent job of cataloguing the documents, manuscripts, pictures and artifacts that were pouring in from Bohemia and Moravia. Thanks to their expertise, today we know a bit about the history of each of the items in the collection. As for why the Germans went along with Dr. Stein, we are not sure. Perhaps they thought that reopening the museum — this time under the label of the Central Jewish Museum - would make good propaganda, or maybe they were just interested in compiling a personal collection."
We were seated in Dr. Leo Pavlat's high-ceiling office on U Stare Skoly Street in Prague's picturesque Old City. Although the office is simply furnished with desks, bookcases and an antique dining room table, the airy spaciousness lends it an aura of prewar elegance. With his graying, bushy hair and neatly trimmed beard, Dr. Pavlat, a journalist, writer and former diplomat, begins telling us about the menorah that the White House had made famous.
"When we heard that the First Lady was accompanying President Obama on his visit to Prague, we proposed -- through official embassy channels, of course – that we show her some of our sites. Although the First Lady was on an extremely tight schedule, she took us up on our offer.

"On April 5, 2009, First Lady Michelle Obama, together with senior White House aides Rahm Emanuel and David Axelrod, toured the Pinkas Synagogue, the Old Jewish Cemetery, and the Alt-Neu (Old-New) Synagogue in Prague's Jewish Quarter. The First Lady was fascinated and asked detailed questions. She wanted to know, for example, why we place pebbles on the matzevot. She also placed a kvitl on the grave of the Great Maharal of Prague which she had prepared in advance and brought with her to the cemetery.”
THESE THREE PARAGRAPHS CAN EITHER BE PART OF THE ARTICLE, OR SHORTENED AND USED AS SUBTITLES FOR PICS THAT I'M SENDING
Prior to our appointment with Dr. Pavlat, we had spent the better part of an hour in the Old Jewish Cemetery, most of the time davening at the Maharal's grave. The historic cemetery dates back to the fifteenth century – the oldest tombstone, of the famed Kabalist, Rabbi Avigdor Kara, was erected in 1439. Although the Maharal is the most well-known rabbi to be buried there, this is the final resting place of other great rabbis, including rabbis Dovid Gans (d. 1613) and Dovid Oppenheim (d. 1736).
Although we didn't have time to enter the Pinkas Synagogue, the second site that the First Lady visited, we walked past it and even took several pictures of the almost five hundred year structure. In 1958, Dr. Hana Volavkova, the first post-war museum director, turned the synagogue into a memorial dedicated to nearly 80,000 Jews of Bohemia and Moravia killed in the Holocaust.  Ten years later, following the 1967 Six Day War and the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968, Czechoslovakia's Communist government closed the memorial and left it to rot. Built on sediments from the nearby Vltava River, the structure was always endangered by subterranean water and now that it was not being properly cared for, the moisture seeped up through the walls and destroyed almost all the inscriptions, leaving the thick fuoundations and walls intact. After the fall of Communism, the names were painstakingly rewritten on the walls of the synagogue and the synagogue was reopened.
The third site that the First Lady visited, the alt-Neu Shul (Old-New Shul) is Europe's oldest active synagogue and has been the main synagogue of the Prague Jewish community for more than 700 years. Originally called the New or Great Shul, it was not until the establishment of other synagogues in the late 16th century that it came to be known as the Old-New (Altneuschul). We spent several minutes inside reciting a few kepitelach Tehillim.
After describing the First Lady's visit to Prague, Dr. Pavlat began talking about the menorah: "Almost seven months after the First Lady's visit, we received a letter from the White House requesting to borrow one of the museum's historic menorahs to light at the upcoming annual White House Chanukah party. We were extremely surprised and honored, of course."
Hamodia: Was this one of the menorahs that the First Lady saw in Prague?
Dr. Pavlat: Although most people assume that she personally chose this menorah, that was not the case. She didn't see any of the museum's permanent collections except for the display of children's drawings from the Terezin Ghetto, which is located on the second floor of the Pinkas Synagogue."
Hamodia: So why did you choose that particular menorah?
Instead of an answer, Dr Pavlat replies, "My colleague, Michaela Sideberg, the museum's curator, is waiting to speak with you. She took care of all the details."
Dr. Pavlat cordially sees us to the door. We feel honored to have spent the last forty-five minutes with such a dignified and knowledgeable gentleman, who is so obviously passionate about his work in preserving Jewish heritage in today's Czech Republic.
Downstairs, my husband waves down one of the many taxis cruising the streets and after a fifteen minute scenic drive through the city we arrive at the Smichov synagogue, where the museum's archives are located. CAN BE LEFT IN ARTICLE OR USED AS SUBTITLE TO PICTURE Built in 1863, the Nazis converted the Smichov Synagogue into a warehouse for confiscated Jewish property. Later on, under the Communists, this magnificent building was used to store spare machine parts. In 1986 the synagogue was saved from imminent demolition when it was included on a list of protected cultural monuments. Today it is completely restored and is used to house the museum's archives and the visual arts collection.

Michaela Sideberg meets us at the entrance and guides us past security to her office upstairs. Sparkling with enthusiasm, Michaela joined the museum in 1996 after graduating with an MA in art history. Within a few minutes we find ourselves sitting in a spacious workroom – another curator is busily at work on the computer next to me -- listening in amazement as Michaela describes the First Lady's visit to Prague and the subsequent story of the menorah.
"Michelle Obama is warm and personable. During the nearly two hours that we spent together, I felt completely at ease with her. She was inquisitive -- she wanted to learn, to hear more -- and it was obvious from the questions she asked that she had spent time preparing for the visit.”
Hamodia: Were you nervous about meeting her?

Michaela: "Who wouldn't be? But I was also excited at the opportunity to meet such a great lady. My husband is American and we closely followed the election campaign, so I a felt as if I knew her personally. Within a few minutes of being introduced, my initial nervousness turned into pure delight and joy. She was gracious and always smiling; it was easy to communicate with her.

"As soon as we received the request for a menorah from the White House, we started searching for the right one. We wanted it to be made of silver and in fairly good shape as there wasn't time for conservation. We found a rare piece – a real beauty – created in 1873 by a Christian silversmith, Cyril Schillberger from Vienna. Interesting enough, until the Second World War, it was the common practice for Jews in Central and Western Europe to commission gentile silversmiths.

"On the back plate of this regal menorah, on a projecting medallion held by two lions, are engraved the words: 'We have dedicated this holy menorah to the merit of the soul of our righteous father, our teacher, master Gavriel son of the Rabbi P. T. Spitzer / of blessed memory / and our virtuous mother, lady Pearl, may her soul rest in Eden / in the year / [5]633 according to the small count [1873].'

"In the letter sent to the White House together with the menorah I wrote, 'The dedication clearly indicates that the menorah was a gift made by the children to the memory of their deceased parents, Gavriel, the son of Rabbi P.T. (or P.D.) Spitzer (1772–July 31, 1856) and his wife Pearl (1788–March 19,1872). It was donated either directly to the Jewish community or to one of the Jewish associations in Prostějov, shortly after the death of Pearl, who survived her husband by sixteen years, which was their exact difference in age. Both lived to the age of eighty-four and were buried beside each other in Prostějov’s old Jewish cemetery, where a number of prominent Jews from the town were laid to rest. The headstones, however, are not to be found. During the Second World War the cemetery was destroyed and the Nazis had all the headstones removed and turned the site into a military training ground. After the war it became a playground and later a school was built on the site, but the memory of those who had been buried there would have been entirely forgotten if it were not for the fact that the inscriptions on most of the headstones had been painstakingly documented and deposited in the archives of the Jewish Museum in Prague, where they are located today.'

"What really clinched our decision to use this menorah were the words, kumi ori ki ba orekh lp"k [li-frat katan] that were engraved under the dedication. These words are the gematria of [5]633, the year that the menorah was presented to the Prostějov shul. We felt that these words, 'Rise and shine, your light has come…' captured the blessing that we wanted to give the new President.

Hamodia: How was the Menorah shipped to the White House?

Michaela: "We handed the menorah over to the Charge d'Affaires of Prague's Embassy of the United States of America, Mary Thompson-Jones, in a small ceremony held in Dr. Pavlat's office. The embassy sent it as a diplomatic pouch to Washington. Shipping museum objects abroad is always complicated, but in this case, because of the strict security measures, it was even more so. With every outgoing loan we make sure to keep a detailed record of the objects’ condition; our collection items are extremely valuable and it is our prime responsibility that they are taken care of properly. In this case, we also sent along candles that would fit the candle holders – we picked them up at the community's kosher shop. We were careful not to buy the cheap, short ones; instead we purchased the longer, more expensive brand."

Hamodia: What happened to the menorah in Washington?

Michaela: "The official White House curator, Donna Hayashi Smith, took charge. There were lots of questions about the proper protocol; the First Lady wanted everything to be done just right. One thing that stands out in my memory is that they asked about the significance of the different colored candles that we had sent, and even asked which color is customarily used. I explained that it really doesn't make a difference and suggested that they light white candles; white, after all, is always elegant and traditionally perceived as a symbol of dignity and peace.

"On December 16, 2009, on the sixth night of Chanukah, the President and First Lady welcomed Jewish community leaders, friends and staff to their very first Chanukah celebration at the White House. The First Lady invited Ethan and Esther Moran, along with their mother, Alison Buckholtz, to light the menorah. I was very touched that the First Lady chose these two children for this honor as their father is presently serving his country in Iraq.

"A month later, on January 15, 2010, the menorah was returned to its home at the Jewish Museum in Prague. Other than some candle residue, which was to be expected, it arrived in the exact same condition as when it left here. Once again, the shipment was processed through the State Department and the United States Embassy in Prague, whose personnel should be especially thanked for facilitating the shipment of the loan. The menorah will be soon put on display in a special showcase installed in the Spanish Synagogue until the end of this calendar year."






 

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