TTh 11:00-12:30 -- 1:30-3:00

CERGE, Politickych veznu 7

 

July 1
I. A Short Survey of the History of Czech Jews.
    a. Until 1620
    b. 1620-1780
    c. 1780-1918
Required reading:
    P. Cornej, Fundamentals of Czech History (Prague, 1992); J. H. Kieval, "The Lands Between: The Jews of Bohemia Moravia and Slovakia to 1918," in: N. Berger, ed., Where Cultures Meet: The Story of the Jews of Czechoslovakia (Tel Aviv, 1990), pp. 23-51; L. Rothkirchen, "Czechoslovak Jewry: Growth and Decline (1918-1939)," ibid., pp. 107-115.
Recommended reading:
    O. Muneles and J. Herman, eds., Prague Ghetto in the Renaissance Period (Prague, 1965); R. Kestenberg-Gladstein, “The Jews between Czechs and Germans in the Historical Lands: 1848-1918,” The Jews of Czechoslovakia: Historical Studies and Survey, vol. 1 (Philadelphia, 1968), pp. 21-71; H.J. Kieval, The Making of Czech Jewry: National Conflict and Jewish Society of Bohemia, 1870-1918 (New York, 1988).

   July 3
II. History of the Jewish Museum of Prague
    a. 1906-39: Assimilation of the Jews and the urban renewal of Prague
    b. 1939-45: "Museum of the extinct race"
    c. 1945-89: A schizophrenic institution
    d. 1989-03: The Jewish Museum today: A center of Jewish culture or a memorial of the past?
Required reading:
    L. Rothkirchen, "Czechoslovak Jewry: Growth and Decline (1918-1939)," Where Cultures Meet, pp.151-163; R. Bondy, "From Terezin to Theresienstadt,” ibid,” pp.165-171; The Story of the Jewish Museum of Prague (Prague, 1996); M. Petrasova, “Collections of the Central Jewish Musem (1942-1945)," ibid., pp. 23-38.
Recommended reading:
    V. Sadek, "From the Documents Related to the War-Time Central Jewish Museum in Prague," Judaica Bohemiae, 16, 1980, no. 1, pp. 5-8; V. Sadek, "The Origin of the Jewish Museum in Prague and the Tradition of Prague Jewish Studies," ibid., 24, 1988, no. 1, pp. 3-5;

July 8
III. Architecture of Jewish Settlements
    a. Jewish Community
    b. Synagogues
    c. Heder, Mikweh, etc.
Fieldtrip: The Museum of the Capital City of Prague (Model of the 19th  Cent. City of Prague; exhibition "The Prague Ghetto in Paintings")
Required reading:
    J. Fiedler, Jewish Sights of Bohemia and Moravia (Prague, 1991), pp. 27-40; Golem Walks through the Jewish Town (Prague, 1994), pp. 13-28; Prazska asanace [The Prague Rehab] (Prague, 1993), pp. 120-23.

   July 10
IV. History of Prague Synagogues
    a. Builders, architects, architecture
    b. Ashkenazi synagogues—inner structure
    c. Reformed Judaism
Fieldtrip: The Old-New, and Pinkas Synagogues
Required reading:
    A. Parik, Prague Synagogues (Prague, 2000).
Recommended reading:
    H. A. Meek, The Synagogue (London, 1995), pp. 82-89, 120-149, 150-169, 170-209.

   July 15
Continuation
Fieldtrip: The Klausen, Maisel, Spanish, and Jerusalem Synagogues

   July 17
MID-TERM EXAM

V. The Jewish Cemeteries of Prague.
    a. History and styles of tombstones
    b. History of the burial places
Required reading:
    A. Parik – V. Hamackova, Prague Jewish Cemeteries (Prague, 2003).

   July 22
Continuation
Fieldtrip: The Old Jewish Cementery of Prague, The Jewish Cemetery of Fibichova Street, The New Jewish Cemetery at Olsany.

   July 24
VI. Ritual Textiles
    a. Synagogue
    b. Household
    c. Relations to local traditions
Required reading:
    “Crafts,” Encyclopedia Judaica, vol. 5 (Jerusalem, 1972), pp. 1040-1057; “Guilds,” ibid., vol. 7, pp. 970-973; Jewish Customs and Traditions (Prague, 1998).
Recommended reading:
      D. Altshuler, ed., Precious Legacy: Judaic Treasures from the Czech State Collections (New York, 1983), pp. 111-162.

   July 25 (Friday)
Synagogues and Cemeteries outside of Prague
Fieldtrip: Plzen.

   July 29
VII. Ritual Silver
    a. Synagogue
    b. Household
    c. Relations to local traditions
Required reading:
    “Crafts,” Encyclopedia Judaica, vol. 5 (Jerusalem, 1972), pp. 1040-1057; “Guilds,” ibid., vol. 7, pp. 970-973; Jewish Customs and Traditions; J. Dolezelova, Gems of the Prague Ghetto (Prague, 1992).
Recommended reading:
    D. Altshuler, ed., Precious Legacy, pp. 165-205.

    July 31
Continuation
Fieldtrip: “Jewish Ceremonial Art,” Exhibitions at Jewish Museum of Prague (the Klausen Synagogue, the House of the Burial Society, the Spanish Synagogue).

   August 5
VIII. Hebrew and Jewish Books
    a. Booklore tradition (manuscripts, bookprints, illuminations)
    b. Religious literature
    c. Secular texts (cook books, entertainment, etc.)
    d. The Prague Haggadah
Required reading:
    Ch. Wengrow, Haggadah and Woodcut (New York, 1967), pp. 1-24; Illustrated Haggadot of the Eighteenth Century (catalogue, Israel Museum, 1983), pp. 9-30; Jewish Customs and Traditions.
Recommended reading:
    V. Sadek, "From the MSS Collections of the State Jewish Museum in Prague: Illuminated MSS,” Judaica Bohemiae, 10, 1974, no. 2, pp.105-112; V. Sadek and J. Sedinova, "From the MSS Collections of the State Jewish Museum in Prague: Manusripts of Liturgical Contents," ibid., 1977, no. 2, pp. 74-95; J. Sedinova, "From the MSS Collections of the State Jewish Museum in Prague: The Scrolls of Esther," ibid., 15, 1979, no. 2, pp. 74-85; J. Sedinova, “To Teach, to Entertain, to Edify,” Review of the Society for the History of Czechoslovak Jews, 1993/94, vol. 6, pp. 103-118.

   August 7 
FINAL EXAM