Category: Uncategorized

Jewish cemeteries and burial rituals

Jewish Cemeteries and Funeral Rituals Thursday, November 16 at 7 p.m. at Café Kaprál; Údolní 17; Brno Jaroslav Achab Haidler has written a beautiful, fascinating book Jewish Cemeteries and Burials, published in 2019 by Grada. The book was long awaited because many people knew what Achab has been intensely involved in for at least fifteen years: translating tombstones in Jewish cemeteries in Bohemia and Moravia. There are almost three hundred and fifty of these preserved cemeteries. About one hundred and fifty thousand tombstones! And we invited Ahab to talk about his passion on November 16th in the beautiful setting of Café Kapral. Achab himself calls such meetings with the audience lectures, but anyone who has ever experienced such a "lecture" knows that it is a completely original performance (Achab is, after all, an actor and long-time director of the theatre in Ústí nad Labem), during which we will learn much more than the title suggests. Moreover, Achab does not just impart information, although there is no shortage of that either: his "teaching" reaches people's hearts, as if he knew exactly where each of us has them. Admission is voluntary.

Israel and Gaza in context

Israel and Gaza in Context Wednesday, November 1 at 6 p.m. In the second half of the month of Tishri on the Jewish calendar, the annual cycle of reading the Five Books of Moses traditionally concludes. In synagogues around the world, the scrolls are danced merrily on shoulders and a new cycle begins. On the eve of this year's Simchat Torah holiday, instead of joy, Israel is plunged into emotions of shock, fear and sadness. After fifty years, martial law has been declared in circumstances that feel like déjà vu in 1973, combined with a sense of the greatest failure in Israeli history. On Saturday 7 October, Israel was attacked by the armed wing of the Palestinian radical movement Hamas. The terrorist attack, dubbed the 'Storm of al-Aqsa', was hugely surprising in its execution, especially in its bestial brutality against Israeli civilians. The war between Hamas and Israel is becoming a global issue. Historian Eva Taterová (Institute for Contemporary History of the Czech Academy of Sciences and Faculty of Regional Development and International Studies of Mendel University in Brno) together with Libor Kutej, Director of the Institute of Intelligence Studies of the University of Defence in Brno and Vice-Rector of the University, accepted the invitation to discuss the current context of the war conflict. Admission is voluntary

Tasting of kosher wines from the Austrian winery Hafner

Tasting of kosher wines from the Austrian winery Hafner Thursday 26.10. at 6 pm. Experience a guided tasting of great kosher wines with a talk about what kosher wine is and how it is made. The tasting is guided and commented by the legendary chef of the Bratislava kosher restaurant Chez David Ladislav Polák. Again, admission is voluntary, but the event is limited to 25 participants for obvious reasons. Participation must therefore be booked by e-mail muzeum@malymehrin.cz. The first 25 registrants will then receive a confirmation email informing them that they will be able to taste. So do not hesitate to write! We look forward to seeing you!

Nora Lustig – The Destiny between Brno and Norway

Nora Lustig - Fate between Brno and Norway Wednesday 11 October at 18.00. Nora Lustigová was born in Opava in 1899, she and her husband moved to Brno, where they actively participated in cultural and social life. She was a member of the International League of Women for Peace and Freedom and actively helped refugees from Germany and Austria. Through Nansen's help, she and her sons made it to Norway, but this refuge soon became a target of the Nazi occupation. She was imprisoned, deported and murdered. Lecture doc. Miluše Juříčková from the Faculty of Arts at Masaryk University reflects on the civic attitudes and legacy of Nora Lustig on the Brno-Norway axis. Admission is voluntary.

Boys from Boskovice

Boys from Boskovice Wednesday 4 October at 18.00 Our invitation to the debate was accepted by Vicky Unwin, granddaughter of the controversial writer Hermann Ungar, a native of Boskovice, friend of Thomas Mann, Berthold Brecht and Stefan Zweig. Ungar's son Thomas changed his surname to Unwin in exile. He completely separated himself from his family roots and never discussed them with his daughter. Vicky is coming to Brno to present her book Boy from Boskovice, which she published two years ago. In it, she comes to terms with her family's mysterious past and her father's contradictory personality. She will also appear at the international Ungar-Kafka literary symposium, which is taking place in Brno these days. Vicky Unwin has had a successful career in the world of books and the press, blogging about living with cancer, travel and culture. She has also been active on the subject of drug education in schools and the decriminalisation of drugs, following the loss of her daughter Louise to a ketamine overdose. The talk will be translated into English and streamed simultaneously. Admission is voluntary.  

Organ in Jewish liturgy

Organ in Jewish Liturgy Lecture by Mgr. Václav Peter Do you find it unlikely that the organ sounds during synagogue services? Are organs part of synagogues at all? And to entice you a little, perhaps we can reveal that the organ appears in the unorthodox setting of Judaism. For example, during the building of Brno's largest modern synagogue, there was a dispute between the older and younger generations of community members about their placement in the building. In the end, the melody of the organ was carried through the space. Nowadays, the organ can be heard, for example, in the Jerusalem Synagogue in Prague, but only occasionally before certain holidays. There are even concerts for the public. When was the local organ built, who built it and why is it a listed building? Who is behind the creation of music for the organ in the synagogue? What must be done in caring for the organ to keep it working well? The organist of the Jerusalem Synagogue, organist and music therapist in one person, Mr. Mgr. Václav Peter. And in order to complement his lecture with organ demonstrations, he will be accompanied by his wife, whom we had the opportunity to meet in person in May, Mrs. Zuzana Peterová, PhD. Thursday, 21 September at 6 p.m.

Fred Iltis - 100 - South and North of the Border

Fred Iltis - 100 - South and North of the Border Opening of the photography exhibition Fred Iltis (1923 Brno - 2008 San Jose) was born Willfried Gregor, the first-born son of botanist and mendeologist Hugo Iltis and his wife Anni. He entered the adult world prematurely. At the age of fifteen, he experienced the forced departure of his family to the United States in the face of the threat of Nazi persecution. He spent two and a half years serving in the army in the South Pacific. After the war, he earned a Ph.D. in entomology from the University of California, where he settled and taught in the biology department in San Jose. His own life's journey shaped him into a man very sensitive to minority issues, acts of injustice, and the devastation of nature. He began documenting the activities of the civil rights movement through black and white photographs. He took dozens of pictures of student protests against the war in Vietnam or of farm workers of Mexican origin for better working conditions. Fred Iltis could be funny and kind. As time went on, he simultaneously grew more pessimistic, reflecting the experiences that marked him, and a certain bitterness at the way the enthusiasm, dreams and illusions born in the 1960s were fading from society. He developed, printed and carefully archived his photographs himself at home. With a modesty all his own, he rejected his friends' proposals to display them. It was not until 2008 that he gave his consent for the exhibition Fred Iltis - South and North of the Border, which unfortunately did not live to see its opening in Milan. Symbolically, on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of his birth, we present the photographic work of Fred Iltis in his hometown, where he wished to return once more. The exhibition closes on 21 December 2023.

CNFB SUPPORT

CNFB SUPPORT The Czech-German Future Fund is one of the important supporters of our activities and a major partner since 2021. We appreciate this support!

David Placzek - Memoirs (book launch)

David Placzek - Memoirs (book launch) David Placzek's niece, Rachel Alon, will come to the Czech launch of the book, which she helped to get published in English in Israel (2016) and which is now being published as the first title in the Mehrin edition. David Placzek - the son of Jewish pioneers in Palestine - finished writing his memoirs in 2004 in Melbourne, Australia. He and his brother Joseph were among the children who left for England in June 1939; they never saw their parents or grandparents again. Rachel Alon summed up the contents of the book most succinctly: 'This is the story of David Placzek, the eldest son of Jewish idealistic pioneers in Palestine - a German mother and a Czech father. Here, in rich and unique language, David describes what his daily life was like and how he survived the Holocaust far from his homeland and home. He interweaves his personal history with the history of the world, a memoir that contains both first-hand impressions and historical facts. It is a testament to the goodness and evil of humanity, to its terrifying capacity to create or destroy. It is a story that shows how simple decisions, whether rash or rational, ruthlessly determine the course of human life..." The entire evening is highlighted by the Café Kaprál Residence, which is intertwined with Jewish history...

Opening of the exhibition Traces of Light by Werner Mally

Opening of the exhibition Traces of Light by Werner Mally Werner Mally, who was born in 1955 in Karlovy Vary to Czech parents, has lived in Germany since 1966, where he has been a renowned artist for many years. The sculptor, visual artist and author of numerous public space projects will present his metal sculpture Restlicht, which will be on display at Svobody Square for the duration of the festival, to the Brno audience as part of the Meeting Brno festival, inspired by the book by Werner's Jewish grandfather, Hunger March. At the same time, Werner Mally will have an exhibition of his sculptures, paper cut-outs and also models of several public installations, including Restlicht, at the Maly Mehrin on 14 Vienna Street. The exhibition will run until mid-September (the museum will be closed from 15 July to 13 August) and you can see, among other things, a very interesting 15-minute documentary on how this chupa (חופה) with the years "tattooed" into the metal roof was created.