Synagogue

The center of every Jewish community is the synagogue, which in Hebrew is called beit knesset, meaning “house of assembly.” Our synagogue, which opened in 2020, is not only a place of prayer, but also a place for study and social gatherings.

The spiritual center of the synagogue is the aron ha-kodesh (“holy ark”), a traditional cabinet in which the Sefer Torah (“Torah scroll”) is kept; the religious life of our community revolves around the reading of this scroll. In the synagogue, you will also find a shulchan (“table”), on which the Torah scroll is placed when it is being read, as well as an organ, which, together with other musical instruments, provides musical accompaniment for the prayers—a practice that follows an old Czech tradition that took shape as early as the 19th century. While in an Orthodox synagogue women and men sit separately, in progressive synagogues it is customary for them to sit together, symbolizing equality between the two genders.