The Maisel Synagogue opens after reconstruction with a new exhibition

Prague - After reconstruction, the Maisel Synagogue in Prague's Old Town will open its doors to visitors on Wednesday. It has undergone renovations both inside and out, restoring its appearance to what it looked like during the neo-Gothic renovation approximately one hundred years ago. The exhibition recounting the life of Jews in the Czech lands from the 10th to the 18th century includes exhibits from a previous exhibition, but is also enhanced by new research findings and interactive elements. The centerpiece is a large-scale projection of Prague's Jewish quarter before its sanitation.
    It offers a flight through the Prague neighborhood and is produced according to Langweil's model of Prague. The exhibition's interactive format, according to one of its authors, Alexander Putík, was designed not only for modernity but also for spatial reasons. Touch screens offer the opportunity to learn about about sixty rabbis and other representatives of the Jewish community, the development of other Czech and Moravian Jewish communities, as well as Jewish manuscripts and old prints, he told reporters today.
    The exhibition features several stops, which visitors pass through from right to left, as Hebrew texts are read. They are arranged thematically, but do not neglect chronology, stated the second author of the exhibition, Iveta Cermanová. It begins with the first settlement of Jews in the Czech lands and explores how their status within the majority society evolved. There are special chapters on Jewish education, mysticism, and Hasidism; the central space of the synagogue is dedicated to the Renaissance "golden age" of Prague's Jews, with particular attention to the patron and builder of the synagogue, Mordechai Maisel, and the legend of the Golem.
    The director of the Jewish Museum in Prague, which manages the synagogue, Leo Pavlát, stated that the new exhibition in the Maisel Synagogue is part of the transformation of museum exhibits. Another transformation will take place in the Spanish Synagogue, according to him. “We plan more evening programs; part of the transformation is our intention to attract more local audiences,” he stated. The Maisel Synagogue can also serve as an auditorium.
    It could host chamber concerts, author readings, or one-person theatre performances. A cinema hall is to be established in the Spanish Synagogue, where documentaries complementing the local exhibition or films as part of a film club will be screened; these will either have Jewish themes or connect through the Jewish heritage of the authors, Pavlát said.