WHAT DOES OCTOBER 7 MEAN FOR NELLY GUTMANN – THE DAUGHTER OF THE LAST RABBI OF PACOV?

Nelly Gutmann – the 98-year-old daughter of the last rabbi of Pacov – and her family now live in Kibbutz Dorot, just 15 km from southern Gaza. The terrible Hamas attack on October 7, 2023 have affected her too and changed her life, her feelings and her thoughts from one day to the next and forever. You can listen to what Nelly herself and her family members of different generations think about their present and future and how they assess the chances of living together with their Palestinian neighbors after October 7th in this moving ARTE video:

https://www.arte.tv/en/videos/118276-000-A/israel-from-the-holocaust-to-gaza/

The History of the Jews of Pacov During the Holocaust by Rabbi Roth

There is exciting news about the progress of a new book that Rabbi Emeritus Ronald Roth of the Fair Lawn Jewish Center/Congregation B’nai Israel, Fair Lawn, New Jersey is working on. The New Jersey congregation has Pacov Torah Scroll #74. 

Rabbi Emeritus Ronald Roth of the Fair Lawn Jewish Center/Congregation B’nai Israel, Fair Lawn, New Jersey

Over the past ten years, Rabbi Roth has continued his extensive research on Pacov and its Jewish community. His first book, The Jews of Pacov Remembered in Fair Lawn, New Jersey, was printed in 2014. It includes an English translation of an article written by Jan Zoubek, about the Pacov Jewish community, taken from a chapter of the book by the scholar Hugo Gold written in 1934 on the Jews and Jewish community of Bohemia. Jan Zoubek was an archivist and the manager of the Municipal Museum in Pacov. 

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Prayer shawl from Pacov at Brussels House of European History

A prayer shawl (tallit), which was found in Pacov synagogue during its archaeological assessment, has now been renovated and placed in a prestigious spot at the very beginning of the temporary exhibition “Throwaway – the History of a Modern Crisis” at the House of European History in Brussels. The exhibition continues until January 2024.

Further information on the exhibition is available here:

https://historia-europa.ep.eu/en/throwaway

https://historia-europa.ep.eu/cs/nepotrebne-vyhodit

The prayer shawl from Pacov synagogue. Photo by Pavel Tychtl

2022 Jewish Heritage Day

Photos from the Pacov and Černovice Jewish Cemeteries Tours, Pacov Synagogue and Rabbi’s House Tour, Michal Foršt’s concert and a live show of the Schimmerle Klezmer Kabaret, all taking place during the Jewish Heritage Day and the previous Saturday on 13th and 14th August 2022. All photos by Karen Koblitz.

The Tikkun Pacov Synagogue Association wholly supports Ukraine as an independent and sovereign democratic nation. Our objective is to revive the memory of the lost Jewish community and renewal of their place in history, lest they be forgotten. The atrocities happening in the Ukraine and the mass exodus of refugees bring to mind the targeting of Jews and others in the Holocaust.

Tikkun Pacov warmly welcomes the Ukrainian refugees to the Czech Republic and to the Pacov community.