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Showing posts from March, 2018

JACOB JR, MY JEWISH WORLD. HINTERDORF. ZERMATT/SWITZERLAND

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Wednesday, Nissan 12, 5778. March 28, 2018. Shalom! World. The old part of the village of Zermatt, known as the "Hinterdorf" (rear village), is a delight to explore. The barns, stores, stables and old houses built between the 16th and 18th centuries form a harmonious whole. A stroll through the narrow alleys feels like a trip back in time. Tough larch timber The buildings are made of larch, the tree that dominates  Zermatt's surroundings. Rich in resin, the timber is particularly resistant to pests. The houses are roofed with heavy slabs of rock, which compress the timber supporting it and make the construction more robust still. Sunshine and weather darken the wood, and over the course of many years it turns black. As  a result, the building becomes much more effective at absorving and storing heat. Barn: for keeping hay; one door. Store: for keeping food such as dried meat; usually four doors. One section, individually accessibl

JACOB JR, MY JEWISH WORLD. GUSTAV MAHLER BIRTHPLACE, KALISTE/CZECH REPUBLIC

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1860 - 1860 House Gustav Mahler - House No. 9 (Birthplace) Kaliste / Czech Republic Sunday, Nissan 9, 5778. March 25, 2018. Shalom! World.  Gustav Mahler His father, Bernard Mahler (1827 - 1889), rented the cottage from Jakub Fischer (domain of Karl Joseph Franz, prince of Palm; estate of Dolní Kralovice). Rebuilt on the original lay-out after fire in 1937. Reconstructed 1997 - 1998, ceremonially opened on 19 - 09 - 1998. In this house lived: Bernard Mahler (1827-1889). Father. Moved to House Gustav Mahler Jihlava 1860 - 1872 (Znojemska street. No. 4/1089, Pirmitzer Gasse No. 265), City of Jihlava. Marie Mahler-Hermann (1837-1889). Mother. Moved to  House Gustav Mahler Jihlava 1860-1872 (Znojemska street No. 4/1089, Pirmitzer Gasse No 265), City of Jihlava. Isidor Mahler (1858-1859). Brother. Born here, died  here. Gustav Mahler (1860-1911). Birthplace. Moved to House Gustav Mahler Jihlava 1860-1872 (Znojemska street No 4/1089, Pirmitzer Gasse No. 265),

JACOB JR, MY JEWISH WORLD. MONT CERVIN PALACE, ZERMATT/SWITZERLAND.

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Thursday, Nissan 6, 5778. March 22, 2018. Shalom! World. It's impossible to imagine Zermatt without "Mont Cervin Palace"! It was 1847 and Zermatt was still a small village of just 400 inhabitants. At tha time, only a few tourists and adventurers made it into the Mattertal, along with chaplain Joseph Seiler from Blitzingen in Goms, who was transferred to the mountain village 1620 metres above sea level. The story of the Seiler Hotels starts with him and his six beds. Joseph Seiler recognised the beauty of the mountain landscape and knew that the six beds of the only village guest house, belonging to Dr, Lauber, would not be enough for long. That was why he asked his brother Alexander, soap and candlemaker in Sitten, to follow him.  Three years later Alexander had hardly clapped eyes on the Matterhorn when it was all up to him. The Brothers took over Doctor Lauber's wooden chalet in 1853 and bought it from him a year later. Six be

JACOB JR, MY JEWISH WORLD. ROTHENBURG OB DER TAUBER/GERMANY

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Thursday, Adar 28, 5778. March 15, 2018. Shalom! World. Welcome on Rothenburg ob der Tauber! Where fairy tales come true!  Massive stone town walls studded with 42 towers; half-timbered houses with red-tiled roofs; cobblestones streets and flower-filled window boxes: That is Rothenburg ob der Tauber, the "Red Fort on the River Tauber." One of Europe's most beautiful medieval towns looks like a movie set - but it is all real! Over the past, 1000 years, the narrow lanes have welcomed kings and emperors, pilgrims and, now, international visitors. All have been - and still are - bewitched by this town, where past and present live side by side. And it is near three big cities: Munchen, Frankfurt and Nürenberg.  Picturesque by day, the town is mysterious at night, when the night watchman's tour leads visitors through picturesque lanes. Dressed in a black cape and a broad-brimmed hat, he carries a lantern. He speaks in English as well as Germa

JACOB JR, MY JEWISH WORLD. POLISH LITERATURE: WISLAWA SZYMBORSKA

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Wislawa Szymborska (Nobel Prize in Literature, 1996.) Sunday, Adar 24, 5778. March 11, 2018. Shalom! World. Possiblities Wislawa Szymborska I prefer movies. I prefer cats. I prefer the oaks along the Warta. I prefer Dickens to Dostoyevsky. I prefer myself liking people to myself loving mankind. I prefer keeping a needle and thread on hand, just in case. I prefer the color green. I prefer not to maintain that reason is to blame for everything. I prefer exceptions. I prefer to leave early. I prefer talking to doctors about something else. I preferthe old fine-lined illustrations. I prefer the absurdity of writing poems to the absurdity of not writing poems. I prefer where love's concerned, nonspecific anniversaries that can be celebrated every day. I prefer moralists who promise me nothing. I prefer cunning kindness to the over-trustful kind. I prefer the earth in civvies. I prefer conquered to conquering countries. I prefer having some reserv

JACOB JR. MY JEWISH WORLD. PADOVA SYNAGOGUE AND JEWISH MUSEUM. PADOVA/ITALY

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Thrusday, Adar 21, 5778. March 8, 2018. Shalom! World. The Jewish community of Padova Italy recently opened a permanent exhibition as a new step in a more comprehensive project to develop and promote the city's rich, centuries-old Jewish heritage as both a resource for local people and an attractive itinerary for Jewish tourists and other visitors. The Museo della Padova Ebraica is sited in the former "German", Synagogue Tedesca, used by the Ashkenazic community, which was inaugurated in 1525 in the heart of the Jewish quarter, or  ghetto, in the city's historic center. The Synagogue was severely damaged during World War II when it was torched by local Fascists, and it stood derelict until it was completely rebuilt in 1998 (the ark was transferred to Tel Aviv in 1956).  The sanctuary of the Italian Synagogue is a small, rahrer long and narrow space, with an elaborately wooden Bimah positioned to face each other from the  middle of the

JACOB JR, MY JEWISH WORLD. THE JEWISH NÖRDLINGEN/GERMANY

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MEMORIAL TO THE OLD SYNAGOGUE. Sunday, Adar 17, 5778. March 4, 2018. Shalom! World. Nördlingen, city in Bavaria, Germany. JUDENGASSE JUDENGASSE Jews were to be found in Nördlingen from the 12th century, but the sources reflect an organized community only in the 13th century. Eight Jews were martyred there during the Rindfleisch persecutions (1298), but community life was renewed soon afterward. In 1331 Emperor Louis IV granted four "honorable" Jewish elders the extraordinary privilege of jurisdiction over foreign Jews. There were about 20 houses in the  Judengasse (which was also inhabited by christians), and the community possessed a Synagogue and a cemetery; the Jews made their living as moneylenders. During the Black Death persecutions of 1348 c.e. many Jews were killed or imprisioned; their property and promissory notes were confiscated by the city. Emperor Charles IV pardoned the burghers and canceled their debts to the Jews. Subsequentely he ac