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As far as education is concerned, we had a Jewish school in the town. In the morning normal subjects were taught, in the afternoon religion. A certain Mr. Trutzer taught us religion. He was a very wise man, who introduced us to the mysteries of the Talmud. And I think that this was very good, because learning about the Talmud means accepting the laws of logic. Few doctrines are as based on the principles of logic as the Talmud. I'll give you an example. Can a Jew eat an egg that a chicken laid on Saturday? One rabbi says that he can. Another rabbi says he can't. And each one defends his own thesis. These are questions that today make us laugh, but in reality, the explanations as to why yes, why no, force the student to begin thinking logically.
But back to the educational institutions of my hometown. We had a talmud torah, but not a yeshivah. The nearest yeshivah was in Nitra. Well, and in closing I also remember the Topolcany mikveh. I was in it only once. Because I preferred to bathe in the Nitra River. But let me describe what bathing in the mikveh looked like. It was a concrete room measuring about 3 x 4 meters, filled with lukewarm water, and a person sat there for five to ten minutes and bathed. People usually went there on Friday, so they could greet the Sabbath clean. That's all as far as religious buildings go.
But back to the educational institutions of my hometown. We had a talmud torah, but not a yeshivah. The nearest yeshivah was in Nitra. Well, and in closing I also remember the Topolcany mikveh. I was in it only once. Because I preferred to bathe in the Nitra River. But let me describe what bathing in the mikveh looked like. It was a concrete room measuring about 3 x 4 meters, filled with lukewarm water, and a person sat there for five to ten minutes and bathed. People usually went there on Friday, so they could greet the Sabbath clean. That's all as far as religious buildings go.
Location
Slovakia
Interview
Alexander Bachnar