{"id":23,"date":"2019-06-20T15:01:02","date_gmt":"2019-06-20T14:01:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jewishbitsandpieces.rennert.org\/?p=23"},"modified":"2019-06-21T03:35:41","modified_gmt":"2019-06-21T02:35:41","slug":"the-klois-of-the-chevra-bikur-cholim-bardejov-slovakia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jewishbitsandpieces.rennert.org\/index.php\/2019\/06\/20\/the-klois-of-the-chevra-bikur-cholim-bardejov-slovakia\/","title":{"rendered":"The Klois of The Chevra Bikur Cholim, Bardejov, Slovakia"},"content":{"rendered":"

No more than three minutes’ walk from the town square is a white washed building, a little higher than the other houses it is squeezed into.<\/p>\n

The Klois from front<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The carefully restored writing near the top of the building, and a proud little plaque on the wall mark it as a synagogue: the”Klois” of the Chevra Bikur Cholim, a charitable society.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The door is locked and it is difficult to peek inside where, according to the plaque, the original furniture from 1929 is still to be seen. As the plaque goes on, the place is “the most authentically preserved synagogue in Slovakia”.<\/em><\/p>\n

Plaque on Bikur Cholim synagogue in Bardejov<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A short stroll around the block, where the back side of the building can be glimpsed demonstrates that authentical preservation <\/em>does not necessarily mean that the synagogue actually is preserved,<\/cite> I.e. in good condition. A sad sight it is, with broken windows, holes in the grimy walls and deterioration everywhere.<\/p>\n

The back of the building is quite a contrast to the white-washed front with its fancy plaque.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Broken windows, holes in the wall. Only the roof seems fine.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
We will try to find the man with the key.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
A tomb stone lying in the entrance. The picture was taken through a glass pane in the door.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Man Who Cares<\/h2>\n

We call the number given on the sign in the door and meet Cyril, a 78 year old local who holds the key to the synagogue. This man, actually a protestant Christian, invests all his time and all his money in the upkeep of the place. When we asked who was paying for electricity he appeared somewhat embarrassed.<\/p>\n

Turns out, it’s him.<\/p>\n

Then he launched into an hour-long lecture on all the items you might find in this shul:<\/em> from \u05d0 (as in Aron Kojdesh<\/em>) to \u05ea (as in ner tamid). <\/cite><\/p>\n

Cyril Bogol, Keeper of Keys<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

<\/p>\n

Towards Ezrat haNashim<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Now it becomes clear what authentically preserved<\/em> really means.<\/p>\n

Time hasn’t stopped in this Shul,<\/em> but the furniture, the carpets, most of the objects have remained exactly as they were, 80 years ago.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The Bima<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
The sign says to keep quiet during prayers.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

<\/p>\n

Aron Kojdesh<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Ezrat haNashim<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

<\/p>\n

Cyril explains the Lulav<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
The place of the Shaliach Zibur<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Bejss Medresh<\/h2>\n

The room adjoining the Shul<\/em> to the west is the classic Bejss Medresh,<\/em> a study hall. It, too, remains largely untouched: long tables, shelves with tomes upon tomes. Petroleum lamps hang from the ceiling.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

View of the back yard<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Petroleum lamp suspended from the ceiling.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
This sign says not to remove any books from the library.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

No more than three minutes’ walk from the town square is a white washed building, a little higher than the other houses it is squeezed into. The carefully restored writing near the top of the building, and a proud little plaque on the wall mark it as a synagogue: the”Klois” of the Chevra Bikur Cholim, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jewishbitsandpieces.rennert.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jewishbitsandpieces.rennert.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jewishbitsandpieces.rennert.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jewishbitsandpieces.rennert.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jewishbitsandpieces.rennert.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/jewishbitsandpieces.rennert.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":68,"href":"https:\/\/jewishbitsandpieces.rennert.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23\/revisions\/68"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jewishbitsandpieces.rennert.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jewishbitsandpieces.rennert.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jewishbitsandpieces.rennert.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}