Monday, February 18, 2013

What happened when some people ascended to the attic of Prague's Altneschul in 1861

Allegedly ascended, anyway. Manuscripts, no Golem.

From the American Israelite Feb. 22, 1861.


8 comments:

  1. Thanks. My first thought was "Scroll of Haftaroth from 1407??" But then I realized that only the get was from 1407; the Scroll of Haftaroth could easily have been from 1750. (The Tausfes Yontev, in the 17th century, writes that "חדשים מקרוב באו" have recently started producing scrolls of Haftaroth in Prague, a new phenomenon.)

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  2. I don't know about this, חמירא סכנתא מאיסורא

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  3. So much for the golem myth, if this story is true - not that many of us had any doubt. If the attic was or is accessible, it would be of value to conduct a thorough examination of the sheimot stored there. Has this been done?

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    1. Not to my knowledge.

      See this book where the author records/claims that R. Yosef Shaul Nathanson told him that he himself meant to go up to the attic to see the golem once when he was in Prague, but was prevented/scared by the shammas, an old man, who told him that the Noda Beyehuda once intended to go up and see the golem, and to prepare himself, fasted, went to mikva, put on tallis and tefillin, etc. - and he went up. When he came down he said that no one should go up again. And this intimidated R. Yosef Shaul, and he did not go up.

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  4. You: Altneschul

    Article: Altenschul

    Me: Altneuschul

    BTW the attic was emptied in late 1800s due to his Imperial and Royal Majesty's fire safety regulations. All geniza items found there were buried in the cemetery. Allegedly.

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  5. Mar Gavriel: It says the haftarah scroll is supposed to be from the 13th Century- how they knew that, I don't know.

    Interesting evidence about the fact that they used to play musical instruments during kabbalat shabbat in the Altneu.

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    1. If indeed they did know it, it would have been because of some kind of date in the colophon.

      The music could also have been for singing, so not sure it's any evidence (and the instruments is not in dispute anyway). For example, the surname of the Sifsei Chachamim/ Sifsei Yesheinim was "Bass" or "Meshorer Bass," and it was because he was a bass singer in the very shul in question.

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  6. The classic article on the Golem legend was written by Gershom Scholem, I believe it may be in his Major Trends. It was an old legend, that only later became attached to the MAHARAL

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