Oldest Jewish Cemetery in Europe

Justiceiro

The Cathedral City of Worms had an important Jewish presence for over 900 years. It's first synagogue was built in 1034, and a cemetery shortly thereafter. The Jewish quarter, and the local population, did not survive the second world war well. In the Palatinate, full of major industrial targets, buildings not destroyed by the Nazis during Kristalnacht were often immolated by Allied air raids.

But this cemetery survived all its enemies, foreign and domestic, in a remarkable state of preservation. It contains the graves of two very important rabbi's and is visited by Jews from all over the world to this day.






















Most of the notes seem to be written with Hebrew characters; I cannot discern if they are written in Hebrew or Yiddish. There are other languages, however, one of them I saw was in Spanish. I have seen rocks on top of other Jewish graves, but don't know the significance of the notes (I assume they are prayers).

kitvan

wow great shots! what a mysterious looking place

Awais Yaqub

These are fantastic ! thanks for showing

swintonphoto

Very interesting. I love the moss on everything. Brings a surreal feeling to the images.

Tessa HD

fascinating! enjoyed looking! i wonder too what the significance of the notes and rocks are. suggestion box?:D

Tee Why

Yup Fascinating.

ian408

If only those stones could talk. What history they would tell.

ChatKat

Beautiful Work

Justiceiro wrote:

Most of the notes seem to be written with Hebrew characters; I cannot discern if they are written in Hebrew or Yiddish. There are other languages, however, one of them I saw was in Spanish. I have seen rocks on top of other Jewish graves, but don't know the significance of the notes (I assume they are prayers).

That is all Hebrew. The carving letters are prayers on the headstones, although I cannot read them, Hebrew handwritten looks different than the stone lettering which is what I see on the other documents.

I was able this last year to visit Synagogues in Corfu and Rhodes (Greece) and in Dubrovnik, Croatia and the year before in Rome and Venice. Entire towns were wiped out of not only their Jewish Populations, but, all traces of their beliefs as well in WWII. Some of these places, the families return to the Synagogues for High Holiday services. In Corfu, none of the families still came weekly - they no longer existed - there was no Rabbi - only one woman was there as caretaker. The Rabbi that comes for services is from Houston, Texas. There are tributes and momentos to the lost members. It is very touching and emotional to be there. I met many Jews from all over the world - from Australia, Canada, South America and Asia as well, in these places who go to remember those who were lost.

Pindy

What an amazing place.

summerz

Fascinating, you captured it well.

Dogdots

The moss on the headstones really adds to the length of time they have been there. The time of season...trees without leaves adds to the feeling and emotion of a cemetery.

The stones on the headstones.....in our Jewish cemetery where I live....they are left there to show they have had a visitor and are remembered by those that are alive....as someone told me. Its sad to see headstones without any stones on them. Usually they are blue in color. Maybe someone will see these photos and can give us more information on the stones and also correct me if my information is wrong

Thank you for sharing them with us.

dadwtwins

I would love to be able to shoot here. Thanks for the great share

mr peas

A really great set. Love the green bold tones in all the fotos. Nice mood to it all.

Thanks for sharing! Gotta' pay a visit to a cemetary one of these days, but I dont think we have something as moodful as the one you shot here.

Bruce Novotney

Fantastic series!

DrDavid

The stones are placed on the grave markers because in Jewish tradition, you don't place flowers on graves. Essentially, you shouldn't kill a flower to honor something already dead.

The notes are indeed prayers. Similar notes are shoved into the cracks at the wailing wall in Jerusalem. Most likely, they are in a mixture of Yiddish and Hebrew; mostly Yiddish I'd guess--the top note definately isn't Hebrew (so, it's most likely Yiddish). Jewish tradition tends to be very superstitious. And, older European Jews retain a lot of that superstition. Hence, they think that placing prayers on the Rabbi's headstone will have the prayer listened to a bit better than otherwise.

I can't read any of the prayers, but, I imagine most are prayers for sick or dead relatives and friends. Jewish tradition does not have the same belief in a "personal God" that the Christian religion does. What that means is that for Jews, God isn't involved in their life in the same way as a Christian believes he is. In fact, Jewish scholars actively debate the question of 'what' God is. There's a strong argument to be made that He is more akin to a basic and fundamental physics equation than a omnipotent ruler.. In fact, you can very easily be Jewish without believing that there is a God.

Very nice photos, and a very interesting cemetary. Personally, I'd see if I could coax the script out of the headstone so it's more readable. There's bound to be someone on here that can read Hebrew and let us know what it says/means

David

Dogdots

DrDavid wrote:

The stones are placed on the grave markers because in Jewish tradition, you don't place flowers on graves. Essentially, you shouldn't kill a flower to honor something already dead.

The notes are indeed prayers. Similar notes are shoved into the cracks at the wailing wall in Jerusalem. Most likely, they are in a mixture of Yiddish and Hebrew; mostly Yiddish I'd guess--the top note definately isn't Hebrew (so, it's most likely Yiddish). Jewish tradition tends to be very superstitious. And, older European Jews retain a lot of that superstition. Hence, they think that placing prayers on the Rabbi's headstone will have the prayer listened to a bit better than otherwise.

I can't read any of the prayers, but, I imagine most are prayers for sick or dead relatives and friends. Jewish tradition does not have the same belief in a "personal God" that the Christian religion does. What that means is that for Jews, God isn't involved in their life in the same way as a Christian believes he is. In fact, Jewish scholars actively debate the question of 'what' God is. There's a strong argument to be made that He is more akin to a basic and fundamental physics equation than a omnipotent ruler.. In fact, you can very easily be Jewish without believing that there is a God.

Very nice photos, and a very interesting cemetary. Personally, I'd see if I could coax the script out of the headstone so it's more readable. There's bound to be someone on here that can read Hebrew and let us know what it says/means

David

Thanks David for the information....I found it very interesting.

susannarose

> @DrDavid said:
> The stones are placed on the grave markers because in Jewish tradition, you don't place flowers on graves. Essentially, you shouldn't kill a flower to honor something already dead.
>
> The notes are indeed prayers. Similar notes are shoved into the cracks at the wailing wall in Jerusalem. Most likely, they are in a mixture of Yiddish and Hebrew; mostly Yiddish I'd guess--the top note definately isn't Hebrew (so, it's most likely Yiddish). Jewish tradition tends to be very superstitious. And, older European Jews retain a lot of that superstition. Hence, they think that placing prayers on the Rabbi's headstone will have the prayer listened to a bit better than otherwise.
>
> I can't read any of the prayers, but, I imagine most are prayers for sick or dead relatives and friends. Jewish tradition does not have the same belief in a "personal God" that the Christian religion does. What that means is that for Jews, God isn't involved in their life in the same way as a Christian believes he is. In fact, Jewish scholars actively debate the question of 'what' God is. There's a strong argument to be made that He is more akin to a basic and fundamental physics equation than a omnipotent ruler.. In fact, you can very easily be Jewish without believing that there is a God.
>
> Very nice photos, and a very interesting cemetary. Personally, I'd see if I could coax the script out of the headstone so it's more readable. There's bound to be someone on here that can read Hebrew and let us know what it says/means :)
>
> David

There are actually two paths to serving Gd according to Jewish thought and the best way is thought to be carefully balancing the two. That of love and that of fear. In the daily prayers leading up to the yearly celebrations of the Day of Judgment, Gd is referenced as "our father, our king", reflecting that He is part of the three parents who created us initially, and also chooses every second to recreate us, and the entire universe. This is not an impersonal supervisor at all, but the most hands on Parent anyone could ask for. At the same time, He is the King of all Creation. He is all powerful and all knowing, and there is an element of fear in understanding that. This is why so often Jews call themselves sons and daughters of the King, because He is their Parent, that they love and are grateful to for every breath He puts in their lungs. Simultaneously, He's their King, and everyone knows that treason against a monarch, even by the monarch's children, has severe consequences.
While people can be Jewish while not believing in any deity, that is only racially and not religiously, since being Jewish is a matter of race and religion.

kdog

Wow, what a thread bump. I don't remember seeing this before. I'm not generally afraid of cemeteries, but this one is straight out of a horror film.

Appreciate all those who chimed in with the historical facts.