Jewish Education and Culture
Every day, one sees newspaper reports
about Jews in Hungary or abroad. Jewish cantorial (hazanut) concerts,
now organized fairly regularly, attract unheard-of crowds of Jews and
non-Jews in both synagogues and concert halls. Many Jewish music
recordings are in circulation. Jewish authors such as Malamud or Singer
are among the most popular writers in Hungary.
In Spring 1994 a Jewish cultural center called Community House opened
in Budapest. On the margin of the Old-New Jewish quarter in Pest, an
old house was remodeled with money from private funding and from the
Joint. The latter, it should be emphasized, plays an important role in
maintaining Jewish life in Hungary, with commitment, responsibility,
and creativity.
Running Community House, with its rich cultural
program, is part of the Joint's activities in Hungary. Community House
organizes lectures, language and computer classes, exhibitions, film
showings, music performances, and the like, making Jewish culture
attractive for individuals and families.
The Center of Jewish Studies
The Center of Jewish Studies was established by an agreement between
the Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture and the Hungarian Academy of
Sciences in 1987 and was joined to the Chair of Assyriology and Hebrew
at the Philosophical Faculty of Eotvos University. The Center is
involved in teaching, research, and public activity.
Reemerging Jewish Identity
Since 1985 a prominent topic for discussion has been Jewish identity
and the prospects of living an authentic Jewish life after decades of
silence
Instrumental in developing a positive Jewish identity in Hungary were
the Eichmann trial (1961) and the wars in Israel in 1967 and 1973.
Shortly after the Eichmann trial, one of the journalists who reported
the trial for the Hungarian press published a book on the case which
included the worst anti-Zionist propaganda. Still, almost all of this
author's Jewish friends and acquaintances kept the book on their
bookshelves for years afterwards. As one explained, "It is the name of
Israel and the word 'Jews' that fills up all the pages." Israel was a
password for suppressed Jewish identity during the decades of silence
and official anti-Zionist politics.
Today, Hungary has established good relations with Israel at the
political, economic and civil levels. Being able to visit relatives for
the first time is a great gift for those living in both countries, the
fulfillment of lifelong dreams, and is becoming a pleasant routine.
In order to give Jews a chance to live Jewishly in Hungary, there is
much still to be done. Most important in this respect is to establish a
liberal and democratic society that makes any form of ethnocentrism
impossible. From this point of view, Jewish destiny in Hungary depends
on the destiny of the country as a whole, including Gypsies, Slovaks,
and Germans, Christian churches and alternative religious or
non-religious groups, and other minorities. Liberal society should
become mainly a civil society, where responsibilities lay not with the
state alone but with every single citizen.
Hungary's opposition - From The Economist, June 18th - A nasty party - The centre-right frets over the rise of the far right
…..Extremist websites publish the names and contact details of
journalists, Roma activists and artists who arouse their ire. They even
blame Jews for the decision to pull down a statue of a Turul, a
mythical falcon-like bird that had been illegally erected in Budapest.
This week somebody scattered pigs’ feet among the riverside memorial,
composed of metal shoes, that marks a Nazi atrocity in 1944 when Jews
were driven into the waters of the Danube and shot. ..
European Jewish Congress, June 18 - The Federation of Jewish Communities of Hungary is participating first time on the Budapest event "Night of the Museums” - During the night inside the Museum you can see several films, the
extended exhibition about the legendary life of P. Howard, and the
regular exhibitions of the museum with free guided tours. There will be
quiz games about P. Howard, matzo try-outs and games without age-limits.
In front of Dohany synagogue, at Herzl square you can choose from the following programs :
- Jazzrael - Traditional Jewish, ancient eastern, Sefard, Israeli, Ladino and
Yiddish songs rewritten in a modern swing, latine or in new jazz style.
The band is built up from the very best jazz musicians of the country
and they will be performing in instrumental and singing too. Their
music is a bridge between the eastern and the western part of the
world, and unifying the folk and national culture with the modern jazz
and latine music……
- Szakcsi Lakatos Bela Trio - Szakcsi Lakatos Béla has started his carrier in the age of 9 with a
dream to become a famous interpreter of classic music. But during his
studies in Bartók Béla Mucis Academy he became familiar with jazz and
this experience dodged him from other fields of music. From the fifty’s
his carrier is going upward in mainstream jazz, jazz-rock, new age and
free improvisation and gypsy-jazz. He is a Lisz and Kossuth-award
winner artist, and his work is a direction on the way of classical,
mainstream, world music and jazz….
- Babos Project Romani - Gyula Babos is the most known person in the Hungarian jazz life. The
Babos Project Romani was founded in 1997 with young and talented
musicians. Their first album came out in 1998, „Once upon a time...” in
cooperation with Sony Columbia. With this music Babos fulfilled his old
dream, to unite jazz, gypsy and Hungarian folklore with his own world
of music. The band perfomed with success not only in Europe, but in
England and in the Israeli Red Sea Festival….
- Yiddische Dream - During the middle-ages the Jews who came to Middle-Eastern Europe were
called Askenazi jews and their language was Yiddish, what is originally
ancient-German language with Hebrew words and they were writing it with
Hebrew letters. The golden age of Yiddish was in the 30’s, when almost
11 million people was speaking it. However the Yiddish is living its
renaissance, today about 2 million people speaks it around the world.
The Yiddish culture created a rich literature, dramas and a wonderful
world of music, where we can hear every emotion of the Jewish faith,
the happiness, sadness and desires - the Yiddish dream……
European Jewish Press, August 28 - Reopening of the renovated sole synagogue in Riga - Riga (EJP) Latvian President Latvian President Valdis Zatlers and Prime
Minister Valdis Dombrovskis attended this week in Riga the ceremonial
reopening of the sole synagogue in the country's capital after a
two-year renovation.
Built in 1905, the Peitav Shul, located in the historic Old Town, was
the only one in Riga to survive the Holocaust and to continue to work.
"We are proud that our generation of Jews restored this synagogue,"
Arkady Sukharenko, head of the Riga Jewish community, said during the
ceremony.
During the renovation works, the two-storey synagogue continued to hold services in a basement area.
“You can engage in prayer at home, but the synagogue is the center of
Jewish life, which is connected to all of life’s most important events.
The synagogue’s renovation means that now, and a hundred years from
now, this will be the center of the Jewish community of Riga,” said
Rabbi Mordechai Glazman, a Chabad-Lubavitch emissary in Latvia.
When the Nazis occupied Latvia in 1941, all but one of the country's synagogues were burned down, some with people inside.
The synagogue in the Old Town was saved as the Germans were persuaded
that the flames would spread and burn down other buildings in the city.
The restoration, at a cost of more than 2,8 million dollars, was done
with EU and Latvian state funds as well as private donations from
Latvia and abroad.
The names of all donors – regardless of the size of their contribution
– are forever engraved on a plaque located at the synagogue’s entrance.
"We are grateful to everyone who participated in this noble and
important endeavor, and have invested their hearts and funds,"
Sukharenko said.
About 70,000 Jews lived in Latvia before WWII but most were killed during the Holocaust.
Today around 10,000 Jews live in the country which is a member of the EU and NATO since 2004.
Jerusalem Post, Sept.6 - Rioters invade Budapest's Jewish Ghetto - A crowd of 500 demonstrators, including neo-Nazis and skinheads, rampaged in Budapest's Jewish district.
Hungarian riot police deployed tear gas and baton charges Saturday
against the vociferously xenophobic crowd as it tried to disrupt
Hungary's annual Gay Pride parade.
More than 30 arrests were made on charges including possession of
offensive weapons and riotous behavior. Heightened surveillance was
enforced throughout the day to prevent a recurrence of the mayhem that
ended last year's parade, in which there were more than a dozen serious
injuries, according to Éva Tafferner, press officer at Budapest police
headquarters.
The rioters invaded the heart of the traditional Jewish Ghetto
District, started a small fire, tore down signs and shouted threatening
anti-Semitic vitriol. The attacks were witnessed by families of foreign
Jews visiting the district for the current Budapest Jewish Cultural
Festival.
One British tourist trying to argue with the rioters at the edge of the
ghetto had to be rescued by police when he was verbally abused and
physically assaulted by a gang of 20 attackers. A policeman who tried
to break up a confrontation not far from there was knocked to the
ground and kicked, as was a woman displaying a Gay Pride T-shirt while
standing alone at a tram stop.
The parade drew support from artists, politicians and human rights
organizations in many countries. An anti-fascist organization in
neighboring Austria sent busloads of activists who marched beneath a
giant rainbow flag.
Former Hungarian Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány, who took part in the
parade, declared: "All free citizens must defend human rights."
