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HUNGARIAN JEWRY
Tradition and Conflict

April 30-May 9, 2012
    Led by Professor Yom Tov Assis, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem

The seminar surveys the history of the Jews in Hungary from medieval to modern times. Royal protection and intensive economic activities from the 11th century onwards caused hatred and antagonism followed by blood-libels and expulsions. Even in these periods of oppression centers of Torah study flourished in Hungary. Under Ottoman rule the position of the Jews improved immensely. Some Sephardi Jews from the Balkans settled in Ottoman Hungary as they were attracted by these favorable conditions. In modern times the number of Jews increased constantly   and in the post-emancipation period they were found in large numbers in many professional, financial and literary fields. Haskalah and Reform were opposed vehemently by the Orthodox and Hassidim. German, Yiddish and Hungarian speaking Jews added to this internal strife. Political anti-semitism grew in strength as the Jews integrated more deeply in Hungarian life. Hungary became the stronghold of the anti-Zionist Neture Karta and also the birth place of Herzl, the founder of political Zionism. The country offers a fascinating example of fully integrated Jews, Zionist enthusiasts and extreme Orthodox. Whatever their identity was the Holocaust made no distinction between them and the Second World War proved disastrous for Hungarian Jewry. Their partial survival after the Holocaust is the story of a miraculous revival.  

 

 

Monday Apr 30	Arrival in Budapest, divided by the Danube River with nine bridges that link the hilly historic Buda and the commercial, very flat Pest. Transfer to the hotel. 17:30 Orientation in the hotel and followed by dinner in a kosher restaurant. BUDAPEST
Tuesday May 01	Lecture: Hungary and its Jews in the Middle Ages, Y. Assis Visit the Rabbinical Seminary of Hungary, a famous center of Jewish scholarship. Proceed to the Castle District, a 1km long limestone plateau in Buda towering 170m above the Danube, containing Budapest's most important medieval monuments and museums. It is today a World Heritage Site. In Castle Hill we find the remains of the earliest Jewish settlement in Budapest dating from the 13th century. Continue to the medieval Jewish synagogue, parts of which date from the 14th century. BUDAPEST
Wednesday May 02	Lecture: Jewish Life and Culture in Medieval Hungary, Y. Assis WESTERN PART OF HUNGARY: Travel to Györ to visit the synagogue built in the 19th century and which is now a cultural center.Visit Sopron, one of the most charming medieval cities in Hungary located at the foot of the Lövér Hills. Visit the two oldest so far discovered medieval synagogues in Hungary, both built in the 14th century that are among the greatest Jewish Gothic monuments in Europe. Visit a Jewish “hospital” and mikve. Kosher box lunch. BUDAPEST
Thursday May 03	Lecture: Hungarian Jews under the Hapsburgs and the Ottomans, Y. Assis Lecture: An Introduction to Synagogue Architecture in Hungary, R. Klein Tour the Jewish sites in Budapest: Visit the three synagogues: The Neolog Synagogue which was inaugurated in 1859 and the largest functioning synagogue in Europe; the Orthodox synagogue built in 1913 and the Status Quo one. Visit the Jewish Museum which contains artifacts from various periods and also important documents on the Holocaust. The museum is built on the site of the house where Herzl was born. Walk around the Jewish Quarter and its surrounding streets which retain a feeling of prewar Budapest. BUDAPEST
Friday May 04	Lecture: Hungarian Jewry between Tradition and Acculturation, Y. Assis Lecture: The Dohany Synagogue in Budapest: Art and Architecture, R. Klein Visit memorial sights of the Holocaust in Budapest:  The Holocaust Memorial Center and the Glass House which was a remarkable refuge place during the Holocaust period and also a center of underground Zionist activities.  View the Abundant Shoes Memorial at the riverside. Shabbat services in the Orthodox synagogue followed by a kosher Shabbat dinner. BUDAPEST
Saturday May 05	Shabbat services in the Neolog synagogue Lecture: Jewish Scholars and Scholarship in Hungary, Y. Assis Kosher Shabbat lunch. BUDAPEST
Sunday May 06	Lecture: Magyar Jews in the Post-Emancipation Era, Y. Assis    Lecture: Jewish Religious Trends in Hungary in Modern Times, G. Balazs NORTHERN PART OF HUNGARY: Visit Esztergom, one of Hungary’s most historical cities.  Continue to Visegrád, once the seat of Hungary’s kings and queens, to see the fortress and the museum. Proceed to Szentendre, a town that has changed little in appearance since the 18th century. Visit the Hungarian Open-Air Ethnographical Museum.  Kosher box lunch in the artists’ village. BUDAPEST
Monday May 07	Lecture: The Jews of Hungary during the Holocaust, Y. Assis Lecture: Jews in Hungarian political life, G.Balasz EASTERN PART OF HUNGARY: Travel to Miskolc, located at the foot of the Bükk Hills, to visit the synagogue built in 1856-1863 and cemetery which was inaugurated in 1759. Proceed to Mád to see the synagogue built by Jewish immigrants from Poland, the rabbi’s house and yeshiva. Tour Tokaj, a picturesque little town of vineyards and nestling storks.   Visit the Great Synagogue which was used as a German barracks during WWII, (now a cultural center) and continue to the cemetery.  Kosher lunch. Proceed to Bodrog-keresztúr to see the cemetery and then to Sátoraljaújhely to visit the burial place of the zaddik Moses Teitelbaum. BUDAPEST
Tuesday May 08	Lecture: Return and Revival, Rise and Decline, Y. Assis SOUTHERN PART OF HUNGARY: Visit Szeged, the largest and most important city on the Southern Plain to view the two synagogues: the Hungarian art nouveau New Synagogue, one of the most beautiful synagogues in Europe from 1900-3, and the neoclassical Old Synagogue, built in 1842-3. Kosher box lunch. Continue to Kecskemét, known as the “Garden City” with its vineyards and             orchards and today a cultural center. Visit Apostag and its synagogue. Kosher dinner on a cruise on the Danube. BUDAPEST
Wednesday May 09	Transfer to the airport for departure.

PROGRAM SUBJECT TO CHANGE

Lecturers:
Prof. Yom Tov Assis, Dept of the History of the Jewish People, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Dr. Gabor Balazs, Lecturer in Philosophy , University of Szeged, Hungary
Prof. Rudolf Klein, Faculty of Building Sciences, Szent Istiván University, Budapest, Hungary

Organizers:
Prof. Yom Tov Asis and Debbie Zuberi          

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