Plzeň

Permanent exhibition “Jewish Tradition and Customs”

The permanent exhibition is divided into two parts, located on the two floors of the women’s gallery. The first gallery presents an overview of the Jewish history of the Plzeň Region. The section on Jewish rural settlements offers basic information on the density of rural Jewish communities and on its surviving traces – architectural, epigraphic, archival, and museum collections. Some of these reminders of Jewish life are on display here either as restored originals or as copies produced by students from the Tachov after-school arts program. Architectural monuments are represented through photographs of architectural elements or synagogal buildings. The exhibition also provides a visual explanation of the typology of Jewish tombstones in the Plzeň Region. All four traces of Jewish life are brought together in the story of Sara Abelesová of Nedražice. The history of Jewish urban life is illustrated by a map of medieval Jewish home ownership in Plzeň and by information on Jewish entrepreneurs’ contribution to the development of industry, including examples of their products. This part of the exhibition concludes with the tragic history of anti-Semitism and its culmination in the Holocaust.The second gallery, which looks at Jewish customs and traditions, takes a chronological look at Jewish life from birth through everyday life during adulthood, and on to illness and death, including the traditional rituals that accompanied people at each moment in their lives. The section on the Jewish calendar compares the Jewish calendar to the civil calendar and explains the origin of the Jewish holidays and the traditional manner in which they are celebrated. Visitors will also find an explanation of the difference between Temple and synagogue, including a unique model of a synagogue produced by students from the Lauder Schools of Prague.