Originally, it was a prayer meeting place for women, girls and boys under the age of 13, and until the mid-1930s it was the only place in the Dąbrowa synagogue designated for this purpose (the second floor of the synagogue was converted into a warehouse). At present, it is a permanent exhibition containing objects related to folk culture (a display case with traditional Easter eggs) and material culture (the technological process involved in making linen cloth, everyday household objects used up to the early 20th century). The second part of this floor houses administrative rooms. Two decorative elements catch the eye: a mezuzah placed on the frame of the door leading to the office (a traditional object of religious worship, a case containing fragments of the Torah and prayers that brings blessings to the household’s members) and a painting on the western wall presenting the tomb of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, a great expert on the law in the Jewish tradition (he is quoted in the Talmud), a mystic and author of the fundamental Jewish mysticism text, Sefer Zohar – the Book of Radiance. The site is also important because of the old tradition of upsherin of Jewish boys, who, from then on, passed from their mother’s to their father’s care, stayed in the synagogue with men, began to wear yarmulkes, and were allowed to use phylacteries. On the opposite walls is a collage created from pre-war photographs of Dąbrowa women. On the frame of the door leading to the office is a traditional mezuzah containing extracts from the Torah and the prayer ‘Shema Yisrael’ (‘Hear, O Israel’) written on parchment.
Church Porch, Meeting of Cultures Centre
Beacon