This will not be the first time we invite festival audiences on an excursion. This time, we will visit the beautiful historic town of Žatec, located just over an hour's drive northwest of Prague.
We will spend a beautiful Sunday afternoon on a guided walk through the town, followed by a tour of the rabbi's house and museum, adjacent to the restored synagogue, including the current exhibition by Petr Nikl, and we will conclude with a concert by the Slovak group Mojše Band at 5 pm in the Žatec synagogue. They will play psalms, piyyutim, and Hasidic niggunim from the former Austro-Hungarian Empire – you are surely curious to hear what they will be like.
For greater convenience, you can use organized bus transport from Prague.
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Žatec is one of the oldest towns in Bohemia, with origins dating back to the 11th century. You can see and feel history in its streets. The well-preserved town center, which is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site, tells the stories of medieval townspeople, merchants, and craftsmen. But Žatec is also known for something else – hops.
For over 700 years, one of the most valuable raw materials for beer production has been grown and processed here. Žatec hops are world-renowned – brewers from all over the world seek them out for their delicate aroma and quality. It is here that the Hop Museum and the Temple of Hops and Beer experience center were established, where visitors can learn more about this unique tradition and see the places where the history of beer production comes to life.
Just a few minutes' walk from the main square stands a monumental synagogue from the late 19th century, one of the largest in the Czech Republic. After years of neglect, it underwent a sensitive reconstruction and now serves as a museum and cultural space. It presents the history of the Jewish community in Žatec, which helped shape the face of the city for centuries, and also offers space for contemporary exhibitions, concerts, and educational events.
Such cultural programs include Jewish and klezmer music – a traditional genre that, thanks to groups such as Mojše Band, is returning to stages outside the largest cities. Their performances in the Czech Republic and abroad prove that Jewish music still has something to say.
Mojše Band is an original Slovak trio specializing in Jewish and klezmer music. It consists of Michal Paľko (dulcimer, vocals), František Kubiš (accordion), and Jakub Stračina (double bass). Their work combines elements of klezmer, chanson, jazz, and world music. They have shone at festivals in Krakow, Amsterdam, Budapest, and Vienna, and were finalists at the International Jewish Music Festival. They captivate audiences with their unique approach, distinctive instrumentation, and openness to different genres.
You can choose one of three options from the offer. Member prices are for members of the Eternal Hope Club.
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Psalms, piyyutim, and Hasidic nigunim from the former Austro-Hungarian Empire
Adon Olam
Traditional piyyut for daily morning prayer
Text by Shlomo ibn Gabirol, arrangement by Moshe Band
Teka be Shofor, Dovid Brider, Melech chaj vekajam
selection of traditional nigunim for celebrating the high holidays of the Hasidic community in Bobowe
Niezhurytza Khloptzy
traditional tish nigun (melody for dining) of the Chabad Hasidic community in Lubavitch
Nigun Modus be Ahava Raba
Lejb Hirsch Bakonz Chrzanówa
Austerlitzer, Lecha Dodi
Rabbi Teodor Austerlitz and cantor Samuel Gottschall
(selection from sources of the Neolog synagogue in Prešov from the 1920s)
Shema Israel
central prayer of Judaism, nigunim of the Sadigura-Krilowitz Hasidic community
Mojsze tanz, Sher, Ketzer nign
instrumental and simcha nigunim (joyful melodies) from the former Šariš County in eastern Slovakia
Throughout its complicated history, marked by misunderstanding, prejudice, and hatred, which led to constant migration, the Jewish people preserved their cultural uniqueness. Wherever Jews managed to settle, they also adopted elements of the local culture and developed a musical style that united the diversity of cultural layers across a time span of almost a thousand years. In the Habsburg Empire, Jews lived in minorities mainly in the territories of what was then Poland, Bohemia and Moravia, Galicia and Hungary, the northern part of which occupied approximately the territory of present-day Slovakia, in addition to Austria itself. Thus, in Eastern Europe, where music had accompanied religious and everyday life since time immemorial, a kind of musical universe was created. In the 19th century, the Orthodox Hasidic movement, which had emerged a century earlier, played an important role. The Hebrew word "Hasid" means pious, and the Hasidic concept of piety is imbued with joy and an awareness of the omnipresent spark of God. Klezmer music played a special role among the Hasidim, accompanying weddings, various celebrations, and entertainment.
Psalms are, according to the meaning of the word taken from Greek, songs of praise. They originate from the period of the First (Solomon's) Temple, built in the 10th century BC, which was destroyed four centuries later during the reign of King Nebuchadnezzar II. Psalms are hymns of praise, lamentations, thanksgiving, and meditation, roughly half of which are attributed to King David. Piyyut is also a word from Greek, meaning poetry incorporated into Jewish liturgy. Piyyutim (plural) also originated in the period of Solomon's Temple. Collections of piyyutim began to be compiled in the Middle Ages, determining their place in religious ceremonies. Nigun means melody in Hebrew. Each Jewish community created its own nigunim, which were passed down from generation to generation. Their melodies and rhythms show differences depending on the region in which they originated and the influences to which they were exposed.
The Mojše Band draws on the historical repertoire. With music preserved solely by tradition, it is difficult to speak of an original sound, but compositions accompanied by accordion, double bass, and cimbalom certainly come close. At other times, the ensemble uses traditional compositions as a basis and enriches them with contemporary sounds, including electronics.
The program features the piyyut Adon Olam, whose text was written by Shlomo ibn Gabirol, a Jewish philosopher and poet living in Muslim Spain; he died in 1070 in Valencia. His main philosophical work, The Fountain of Life, influenced by Neoplatonism, was also translated into Latin, and around four hundred of his poems, both secular and liturgical, have been preserved.
An important part of the Jewish faith is the celebration of high holidays, a ten-day period of repentance between Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish New Year) and Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement). In the first half of the 18th century, a significant Hasidic community formed in the town of Bobowa in Galicia, known as Bobover Hasidism, which interpreted the traditional nigunas Teka beshofor, Dovid Brider, and Melech chaj vekajam. National Socialism destroyed the community, but survivors revived the movement in the United States, centred in Brooklyn, New York, where it still exists today.
The Hasidic group known as Chabad was founded in the late 18th century. The term Chabad is an acronym of the Hebrew words chochma (wisdom), bina (understanding), and daat (knowledge). The nigun Niezhurytza Khloptzy refers to the location of the group's first headquarters in Lubavitch, Belarus, in the Smolensk region.
Lejb Hirsch Bakon (Bacon, 1875–1928), author of two hundred other compositions in addition to the nigun Modus be Ahava Raba, was a cantor at the large synagogue in Chrzanów in Lesser Poland from 1905. From 1919, he served as a cantor in Berlin for five years, then returned to Chrzanów. "Ahava Raba" means "great love" in Hebrew. Lejb Hirsch Bakon's nigun is an expression of the ascent of souls into the spheres of the four worlds.
Important Jewish monuments have been preserved in Prešov. The local (non-orthodox) synagogue was consecrated in 1898. Teodor Austerlitz (1880–?), son of Prešov rabbi Meyer Austerlitz, was instrumental in founding the Prešov Jewish Museum in 1931. Samuel Gottschall, a cantor from Prešov, left behind a remarkable musical oeuvre, which was recently rediscovered and published.
An important Hasidic dynasty was active in the town of Sadhora (Yiddish: Sadigura) in Bukovina. Its origins date back to 1850, and it existed in this location until World War I, then in Vienna and Przemyśl, Poland, before moving to Israel before World War II. The Shema Israel (Shema Yisrael/Hear, O Israel) prayer is a central element of Jewish liturgy. Since time immemorial, it has served to strengthen faith and reinforce the spiritual fortitude of the nation.
The program will conclude with musical monuments from Šariš. The melodies and dances are cheerful, but today we listen to them with an awareness of the tragic fate of the Jewish population.
The Žatec synagogue was built in 1871-1872 in the Moorish style according to a design by architect Johan Staněk and consecrated by Rabbi Abraham Frank. It is the second largest synagogue in Bohemia. In 1938, the synagogue was burned down during Kristallnacht and ceased to serve its purpose. The premises were used as a military hospital, later as an auxiliary school, a warehouse, and in the 1950s as a market hall. After the most necessary repairs, various occasional events have been held here since 1998, during which participants have been impressed by the excellent acoustics of the space.
In 2013, photographer Daniel Černý from Chomutov bought the synagogue and rabbi's house. He gradually repaired several unused buildings in the region and gave them a meaningful purpose again. The necessary reconstruction began in 2020, and in March 2024, the newly renovated "Museum and Cultural Space Synagogue Žatec" opened to the public.
