In hopes of celebrating Passover in the Czech Republic, I emailed members of both the Jewish community in Prague and Plzen. I did not expect much of a response from the Plzen community because the Synagogue here operates as a museum. However, I received an email inviting me to RSVP for a Passover Seder in a hotel in the center of Plzen. RSVPing over-the-phone and in Czech was quite an experience, and after much confusion I handed my phone to another English teacher at school to help. On Tuesday, March 26th at 2:30PM, I left school and took the tram to the hotel. Inside the hotel’s restaurant there was a long table decorated for the Seder. I took a seat near the end of the table, but as more and more people began to enter the restaurant the table was extended again and again by the waiters, and my seat became close to the middle.
I asked the woman sitting across from me if she spoke English and I lucked out! Not only did she speak English, she was a professor of religious and Jewish studies at West Bohemia University and gave me a book that she wrote. Also, her daughter, who arrived a few minutes later, had just returned from a trip around the world and also spoke English. I enjoyed talking with this mother and daughter, as well as the visiting American Rabbi and a Czech-Israeli woman.
While the style of the Seder was not one that I am used to, I enjoyed seeing the Plzen community connect! Prior to this event, I did not know that a community still existed in Plzen. As it turns out, they meet for all major holidays. This Seder had about 50-people in attendance. All of whom were talking and laughing and enjoying each other’s company. The Prague Jewish community views Plzen’s as a liberal and maybe an irreligious community, but the truth is that it is a community of friends and families that keep their traditions alive through their bonds.
Since the Seder, I have traveled to-and-from Prague for multiple meetings. In Prague and Plzen, once again large markets fill the main squares. Instead of selling Christmas ornaments and decorated with Christmas lights, these markets sell Easter egg ornaments, baskets, and willow sticks. Wine, beer, sausages, nuts, and sweets also fill the stalls. Due to Easter, there was no school on Thursday, Friday, or Monday! However, I was asked to teach my students about Easter traditions in America, which meant that I had to ask my friends about their traditions and do online-research. During my Easter lessons, I asked the students to compare US and Czech traditions. What I have learned and today, I witnessed, is that men of all ages buy or make willow whips or pomlázka to lightly (it is supposed to be lightly) hit women. Hitting the women makes them fertile, healthy, and beautiful for the entire year. This is a public beating that is not reprimanded. After being whipped, women give men Easter eggs, and every leap year women whip men or splash men with water. Additionally, children go on egg hunts and decorate eggs, and families enjoy meals together.
Today in the Czech Republic, many people woke up to a white Easter. Although birds have begun to chirp, it is still snowing here. After my morning walk, I entered my apartment building and heard what sounded like Christmas carols. As I walked up the stairs the music grew louder and louder. It was coming from a group of ten-or-so young men. As I passed them on the stairs they each politely said dobry den (good day) and a few of them genteelly whipped my butt.
Here is to a healthy and good-looking year!
Happy Spring!
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