Jewish Krakow

"Had not the Lord left us this land as a refuge, the fate of Israel would have been indeed unbearable" (ReMA, Rav Moshe Isserles).

Although Poland is not considered much of a filosemitic country today one has to admit that medieval Poland was probably the most liberal and Jewish-friendly place at that time.

In fact, Poland in general and Krakow in particular have been the safest refuge for Jews through most of Middle Ages - and this was the reason for so many Jews to move to live there.

As a major jewish center in the past, Poland became very popular destination for kivrei tzaddikim (graves of great rabbis) tours, tiulei shorashim (root-seeking tours) and -connected to its later and more tragic history- visits of former concentration camps.

You will find most remnants of jewish life in Kazimierz - former mostly jewish quarter named after filosemitic king that established it.

There are, however, no kosher restaurants here. Sometimes kosher food can be provided for groups if ordered in advance (consult www.jewishtraveladvisor.com -they do it on request) and kosher breakfast can be organized in some of local hotels.

There are some interesting synagogues you can visit - check www.jewishkrakow.net for more details.

Jewish Pressburg (Bratislava)

Pressburg had its place on the sun (in the jewish history at least) in early nineteenth century when Rabbi Moshe Schreiber of Mattersdorf accepted the offer from local kehila and eastablished a yeshiva attended by some 500 pupils.

Also known as Chatam Sofer, the rabbi became manhig hador in his time and his kever is magnet for jewish visitors till this day. The fact is that except for his grave and a few nighbouring ones not much had been left neither from old cemetery nor from the rest of jewish sites in Bratislava. Large synagogue on bank of Danube that survived Nazi regime was destroyed by the communist one (the excuse was that a nearby new bridge would harm its statics anyway) and with it the only jewish dominant building in the city.

There is no kosher hotel in Bratislava (Chez David/Eshel David used to be one but both the hotel and restaurant are not kosher any more). There is an eatery at the local community center where meals have to be ordered in advance.

There is a small but vibrant community in Pressburg with a Chabad Rov and Bratislava has even its own (and pretty successful) Pressburger Klezmer Band.

Jewish Prague

Prague has a long and famous jewish history - its crown jewel being the personality of MaHaRaL or Moreinu HaRav Loew, but also other famous Rabbis like Ezechiel Landau (Noda BiYehuda) and David Oppenheim.

The jewish life has for centuries been concentrated in Jewish Quarter called Josefov since 1850 after austrian monarch Joseph II who granted equal rights to local Jews in his 1781 Toleration Edict.

Prague is a unique example of deliberate preservation of jewish sites by the Nazi occupation during WW2 - the plan was to concentrate judaica items from all over Europe and establish a museum of an extinct race....

Visit the Alt-Neu Shul, or Old-New Synagogue that is one of the oldest still serving in the world (since 1280) and notice the U shape of seating order typical for Sephardic rather than Ashkenazic shuls - the synagogue is older than Sephardi/Ashkenazi division fully developed its minhagim.

Another must is the famous ancient cemetery and possibly Spanish Synagogue built in Neo-Moorish style.

There are no kosher hotels in Prague but you can find kosher accommodation with cholov/pat yisroel breakfast through http://www.kosherprague.com/ run by local Jews. There are two kosher restaurants: King Solomon at Siroka st. and Shalom situated in the Old Jewish Municipality - today Jewish Community Center.

(There are now two new possiblilities of kosher dining in the Jewish Quarter - as of March/2009).