After leaving the Madi Synagogue and cemetery, we had about a 200 km drive back to Budapest and due to the lateness of the day, we had to forego the planned visit to the Tokaji winery and the Miskolc synagogue, where my uncle’s maternal grandparents were born. It was after 10 pm when we pulled into Budapest to have dinner together at the Hanna Restaurant. I sat with Bob Gross and Pat Garfunkel at my table. The meal started with chicken vegetable soup and also some white wine (a consolation for missing our Tokaji winery visit). The entrée was chicken fingers with French fries and parsley rice and for dessert we had a chocolate pudding with strawberry filling. We then headed to our five star hotel – the Intercontinental – in Pest along the Danube River and very close to the Szechenyi (Chain) Bridge. Having a Platinum IHG membership, I was able to check into Room 234 immediately in the priority line, which I really relished to get a nice warm shower in a larger than previous hotel showers and some much needed sleep.
Thursday, November 13, 2014
I awake at 7:10 am and panicked because I had set my Swiss alarm clock for 7 am but it hadn’t gone off. This morning was going to be a very busy chesed mission day – visiting the Hungarian Orthodox Jewish Wesselyeni School and a Jewish nursing home in Budapest. Though Tibor had set out kosher food for breakfast (chocolate pastries and cheeses) in our special, set-aside dining room, we also had access to the buffet. I also had some scrambled eggs from the buffet, along with croissants, and some sour cherries. A shuttle conveyed us over to the school, and we were greeted by several students (one was Benjamin Frolich, the son of the Dohany Synagogue’s Rabbi Frolich) who ran some powerpoint slides welcoming us and telling us a little about the history of the school. Many of our group, after the presentation, handed out gifts to some of the students. I bought two American scenic calendars which I gave to two students. After this, the men of the group went upstairs to daven shacharit service with the male students. There were students from elementary to high school age students. I met two elementary students, I think named Baruch and Gyorgi, to whom I astonished by speaking in a few words of Hungarian I had studied before coming on this trip. They continued their giggling during the shacharit service. Being Thursday, this service would include bringing the Torah out and reading the beginning of parashat Chaiye Sarah. As I had not brought my tefillin into the building, the students wanted me to borrow a set and use it there. I consented to their request, as I was reluctant to possibly damage another’s property. Additionally, I was given the honor of Hagbah (lifting of the Torah scroll), as I was assisted by Rabbi Tessler in the proper performance of this task – since the scroll was early in the book of Genesis, the scroll is unbalanced with most of the weight on one side of the two poles. After the shacharit service, I visited the school library with Tommy and one of his friends. I was impressed of how well stocked with reading material the students had access to. I also walked over to see some children painting a stained glass window with flowers, like roses, and other beautiful pictures. Then I walked over to the nursery area, where some of the women of our group were singing nursery rhymes to very young children. It was soon time for us to leave the school and the school went on a break period; while I was standing outside, awaiting our group, one of the school’s students of high school age lit a cigarette as I was talking with him. Though I was taken aback, I think European high school student smoking is more common than their US counterparts.
Our Chesed Mission group now began our Jewish Budapest Walking tour, so from the school we headed to our site. On the way, there was a kosher bakery, and a couple of our group’s ladies bought some pastries to share with us later. I bought a can of Coke for 300 Forint, mostly so I could get change for a 20,000 Forint banknote.
Our first tour site was the Kazinczy Street Synagogue. Agi, our tour guide, took us inside. I spent some time taking pictures.
The first (Carl Lutz) Holocaust Memorial we stopped at was an interesting sculpture depicting a person on the ground and an angelic figure bound up in gold ribbons connected by another ribbon positioned up on the wall of the building next door. The sign stated, from the Talmud, “Whoever saves a life is considered as if he has saved an entire world.”
From here, our group walked past a sign, indicating the house where Theodore Herzl was born, into the Dohany Street Synagogue, which I understand to be the second largest synagogue in the world (seats 3,000 and has an area of 1200 m² and height of 26 m – apart from the towers which are 43 m). We entered quickly past security once the guards realized we were a group of Jewish tourists. It truly was enormous inside with splendid candlebra overhead and the women’s section above to the left and right. I took several pictures. Outside the front of the synagogue, I purchased a tallit clasp for 6,800 Forint as my religious souvenir from Budapest. Along the side of the shul, where Theodore Herzl’s house originally stood, were several graves and plaques – I believe of prominent Hungarian Jews most who died in the Holocaust. Toward the back of the left side of the synagogue was another 1944 Holocaust memorial, stating SOHA TOBBE! (NEVER AGAIN!) Atop the plaque, from my perspective, appears a sculpture that depicts huddled Jews marching towards the edge of the right side where they would fall off if they go any further. Plaques of names of those Hungarian Jews who perished in the Holocaust are affixed to the synagogue walls. We walked to the back of the synagogue, to Raoul Wallenberg Emlekpark, where there stands a beautifully scintillating, aluminum willow tree, with names of Hungarian Jews who died in the Shoah. These names are inscribed on the willow leaves of the metal rod branches. One photo I took shows, for instance, the names Steiner Sandor Budapest and Tarjan Enore Miskolc on a branch. Before leaving, we held a memorial observance, where Aviva Tessler read a letter related to her assigned Hungarian Jew of interest Tony Curtis and lit a memorial candle upon a stone she brought in his behalf.
From here, our shuttle conveyed us to our next chesed mission today in Pest of visiting with the infirmed senior citizens of Szeretetkorhaz. Inside, we were welcomed by senior hospital staff and provided some juice and pastries to enjoy ourselves before we took our own gifts as well orange juice boxes and bananas provided by the facility to distribute to the residents on several floors. This experience was very difficult for me, but I am ever thankful to have studied some Hungarian phrases before coming on this mission, like “Jo napot kivanok. En amerikai vagyok. Beszelek czak kiczit magyurul.” (I wish you a good day. I am an American. I speak only a little Hungarian). I bought two pashmina shawls which I presented to two sweet ladies. One was alone, so I unwrapped the shawl, and though she modestly declined the gift, allowed me to put it around her. I took her picture. Another lady, being visited by her son and daughter in law, accepted the gift. It just seemed to make the day more like a holiday I am sure since she was there with her “children.” One lady reading out in the hallway spoke German so I could speak much better with her. Many others were bed-ridden, either sleeping or simply quiet as I dropped off their refreshments. It is so hard to see these people at the last stages of their lives and not be able to adequately speak to them. I just hope that my visit was encouraging for them.
After this activity, we took the shuttle bus to old Buda (across the Danube) to the Obuda Synagogue where we met with Csanád Szegedi. He was a member of the Hungarian radical nationalist Jobbik political party between 2003 and 2012, which has been accused of anti-Semitism. In 2012, Szegedi gained international attention after acknowledging that he had Jewish roots. While lunching on wraps, deviled eggs, fruit, and pastries prepared for us, Szegedi, through an interpreter, told us of his history including his eventual departure from the Jobbik Party and his conversion to Judaism – including his and his son’s circumcision and studying with a rabbi. I think he makes a great inspirational speaker to potential converts to Judaism. After his discussion we were able to go downstairs to visit and tour the sanctuary area of the synagogue. ~ Craig
