5/14/26-- Budapest, Layer by Layer

 5/14/26 Budapest, Layer by Layer

It’s easy to fall in love with Budapest. The people are interesting and, for the most part, friendly. Many of them have dogs and, as sometimes happens, look perfectly matched with their canine companions. Residents and tourists alike race around the streets of Budapest in every which way, filling the cafes, crowding the intersections, and participating in the energetic spirit of the city. Neighbors oscillate between wide and impressive boulevards and small and inviting alleyways. There are bookstores, record stores, vintage clothing boutiques, and an endless amount of cafes proudly serving both traditional Hungarian food and every type of cuisine imaginable. There are people of all ages out and about, including many young adults and teens. Even though Prague can boast the likes of Franz Kafka, it’s easy to see why Budapest has the most celebrated literary tradition, including a 2025 Nobel Prize winning author. There’s something literary and intellectual in the vibe here. Unsurprisingly, Budapest is the favored city among our 8th graders. 

Budapest’s charming and lively vibe helps make sense of one of the great questions that Jewish visitor to this city must ask: Why did the Jews stay? Why, when Hungary was an ally of Germany during the 2nd World War, did the Jews stay? Why did they stay when antisemitic laws were passed beginning in the 1930s? Why did they stay when the first deportation of Jews from Hungary didn’t begin until the very late date of May 1944 and the horrors of Auschwitz were not entirely unknown? As Agi, our local Jewish tour guide explained: It’s home. The Jews of Budapest love their city. The same reasons that kept them here and led to more than 430,000 being deported and killed beginning in May 1944 are the reasons why Budapest is one of the most vibrant and thriving Jewish communities of Europe today, with more than 120,000 Jews. The Hungarian Jewish community was, and is, a proud and accomplished Jewish community that feels deeply connected to their home country and city. 

There’s no greater physical symbol of the pride and love that Hungarian Jews feel for Budapest than the Dohany Synagogue. This impressive synagogue is the 6th largest in the world. Massive construction continued on the synagogue as late as 1930, when the rising tide of fascism was already beginning to sweep over Europe. Sitting in the wooden pews of the Dohany Synagogue, we heard all about the Jewish community, including what I’ve shared here. Sadly, on the very same grounds as the synagogue, there are mass graves for Jews that perished in the Budapest Ghetto during WWII. It is against Jewish law to have a cemetery on the same grounds as a synagogue, but it is an even greater violation of Jewish law to exhume bodies for reburial unless absolutely necessary. For that reason, the mass graves remain in the courtyard that was originally intended to have a beautiful reflecting pool. 

Today’s lunch and dinner were, once again, Pizur style. Pizur is quickly becoming a favorite Hebrew word among our 8th graders so be prepared for them to request Pizur style meals back home. As a reminder, Pizur means spreading out and having free choice. After Pizur 1 (lunch) and before Pizur 2 (dinner), we did some fabulous shopping and also rode a beautiful Ferris Wheel. In between our shopping and Ferris Wheel we did something very special: we visited the Budapest Jewish Community Center (JCC). 

Located in a decent sized property on one of Budapest’s main boulevards, the JCC keeps a relatively low profile while offering an incredible array of programming. We didn’t visit the JCC last year, so it was a new experience for all of us. During our hour there we met with a group of elderly adults. This wasn’t just any group, it was their informal singing group. They sang for us and, even more notably, with us. The song selection ranged from Hativkah to George Gershwin to a Hungarian version of Leonard Cohen’s Halleluyah. We sang in Hebrew and in Yiddish and eventually went from singing to dancing. To sing and dance with these elderly Jews was an unforgettable joy. Where else in the world can two groups of people meet across such differences: age, language, nationality… and unite in an even stronger bond of faith, tradition, culture, and heritage? It was, as we say at Davis, a Kol Yisrael moment. Meeting some of Budapest’s elderly Jewish community in such a joyful and authentic fashion was the perfect balm to a morning spent bearing witness to the devastating impact of the Holocaust on this city and country. 

One additional special moment from today needs to be mentioned. Ron, one of our wonderful Israel tour guides, is the only child of two Hungarian Holocaust survivors. While at Terezin he shared the story of his father, the only one to survive when his family was quickly and unexpectedly deported from a small Hungarian town to Auschwitz. Today he told his “mama’s” story and his grandma’s story. His mama’s biological father, a Jew, was essentially sent to his death when the Hungarian army sent him and others like him to clear mine fields on behalf of the army, without any protective gear. Meanwhile, her much beloved step father was killed right in front of her eyes when a stray bullet entered their Budapest apartment in 1956 during a prolonged street battle that was part of the Communist occupation of Budapest at that time. After losing her step father, Ron’s mama made Aliyah to Israel, leaving behind her own mother and all she had ever known here in Budapest. We were deeply moved to hear Ron’s family story. Hearing his story was a reminder that, as Jews, our lives are often deeply intertwined with the more general cadences of human history, for better or worse. 

So far, Budapest has grown only more beloved with each layer that we uncover. Tomorrow we will uncover additional layers of Budapest, some charming and some heartbreaking. It will be meaningful to join with our 8th graders in making sense of this city that is, in so many ways, a microcosm of the world itself: so wonderful and so heartbreaking. But on days like today, I think we can cling in good conscience to the wonderfulness of it all and allow ourselves to say that it was a great day.