The Hungarian Jewish Museum was constructed on the plot where Theodor Herzl‘s, known as the father of the State of Israel, two-story Classicist style house stood, and adjoins the Great Synagogue on Dohány Street in Budapest.

The museum holds the Jewish Religious and Historical Collection, a collection of religious relics of the Pest Hevrah Kaddishah (Jewish Burial Society), ritual objects of Shabbat and the High Holidays and a Holocaust room.

During my visit to Budapest in September 2019, I visited the Great Synagogue and the adjoining Jewish Museum. Three of the objects in the collection, that I found the most informative or poignant for varying reasons, are set out below, together with some information from the information plaques set out in the museum.

The above Hanukkah Menorah which is made of brass and intended for use in the Synagogue, was made in the 18^th century in Poland. It is similar to the Golden Menorah of the Temple of Jerusalem except that the number of branches of the Menorah is different to the original. This is a requirement of Talmudic Law which forbids exact copies of sacred objects from the Temple in Jerusalem. The branches are decorated with blossoms and flowers, as described in the Second Book of Moses. The base stands on three small lions and on the top,  there is an eagle with outstretched wings. The eagle resembles the eagle on the Polish royal coat of arms and also denotes God.

Hanukkah, or the festival of lights, is a Jewish festival commemorating the rededication of the Second Temple in Jerusalem at the time of the Maccabean Revolt against the Seleucid Empire. Hanukkah is observed for eight nights and days by lighting the candles of a Menorah, and additional one each night until all are lit on the final night of the festival.

The above curtain (parokhet) was a donation by Wolf Boskowitz to the Alt-Ofen synagogue in 1772. According to legend, it was a gift from Queen Maria Theresa to the community. A parokhet is used to separate the Torah ark from the main hall of the Synangogue.

From this window the site of the former gate of the Budapest ghetto can be seen. It overlooks the graves of over two thousand victims and is the largest Holocaust mass grave in Hungary.

You can find out more about the Great Synagogue and the Jewish Museum here: https://www.greatsynagogue.hu/gallery_syn.html

Whispers of the Past edited by Kaye Lynne Booth

Blurb

A paranormal anthology with nine stories from six authors, including the winning story in the 2019 WordCrafter Paranormal Short Fiction Contest, A Peaceful Life I’ve Never Known, by Jeff Bowles.

Contributing authors

Kaye Lynne Booth,   Roberta Eaton Cheadle – 2 stories,

Julie Goodwen,   Laurel McHargue – 2 stories,

Stevie Turner,   Jeff Bowles.

About the author

Robbie, short for Roberta, is an author with five published children’s picture books in the Sir Chocolate books series for children aged 2 to 9 years old (co-authored with her son, Michael Cheadle), one published middle grade book in the Silly Willy series and one published preteen/young adult fictionalised biography about her mother’s life as a young girl growing up in an English town in Suffolk during World War II called While the Bombs Fell (co-authored with her mother, Elsie Hancy Eaton).

All of Robbie’s children’s book are written under Robbie Cheadle and are published by TSL Publications. Robbie has recently branched into adult horror and supernatural writing and, in order to clearly differentiate her children’s books from her adult writing, these will be published under Roberta Eaton Cheadle. Robbie has two short stories in the horror/supernatural genre included in Dark Visions, a collection of 34 short stories by 27 different authors and edited by award winning author, Dan Alatorre. These short stories are published under Robbie Cheadle.

Find and follow Roberta Eaton Cheadle

Roberta Writes Blog   Amazon Author Page    Twitter    Facebook

Books by Roberta Eaton Cheadle

Through the Nethergate

Roberta Eaton Cheadle

Lulu.com   TSL Publications

Margaret, a girl born with second sight, has the unique ability to bring ghosts trapped between Heaven and Hell back to life. When her parents die suddenly, she goes to live with her beloved grandfather, but the cellar of her grandfather’s ancient inn is haunted by an evil spirit of its own. In the town of Bungay, a black dog wanders the streets, enslaving the ghosts of those who have died unnatural deaths. When Margaret arrives, these phantoms congregate at the inn, hoping she can free them from the clutches of Hugh Bigod, the 12th century ghost who has drawn them away from Heaven’s White Light in his canine guise. With the help of her grandfather and the spirits she has befriended, Margaret sets out to defeat Hugh Bigod, only to discover he wants to use her for his own ends – to take over Hell itself.

While the Bombs Fell

TSL Publications     Lulu

What was it like for children growing up in rural Suffolk during World War 2?

Elsie and her family live in a small double-storey cottage in Bungay, Suffolk. Every night she lies awake listening anxiously for the sound of the German bomber planes. Often they come and the air raid siren sounds signalling that the family must leave their beds and venture out to the air raid shelter in the garden.

Despite the war raging across the English channel, daily life continues with its highlights, such as Christmas and the traditional Boxing Day fox hunt, and its wary moments when Elsie learns the stories of Jack Frost and the ghostly and terrifying Black Shuck that haunts the coastline and countryside of East Anglia.

Includes some authentic World War 2 recipes.

Robbie also writes as Robbie  Cheadle

Robbie’s Inspiration Blog      Goodreads    Facebook    YouTube

Amazon author page   Twitter: @bakeandwrite

Books by Robbie and Michael Cheadle

The Sir Chocolate books are a delightful marriage of story, verse and cookery

… a perfect recipe for sharing with children.  Silly Willy goes to Cape Town tells the adventures of two very different brothers…and includes five party cake ideas.

You can purchase the Sir Chocolate books from:

Amazon  Lulu.com    TSL Books

or you can buy them in South Africa directly from the authors by emailing Robbie Cheadle at sirchoc@outlook.com.

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