The Amazing Jewish Synagogue

Amazing and Beautiful Jewish Synagogue

So the field excursions are winding down in number as the weeks go on and as Ildiko put it, this Wednesday was our penultimate one. For those of you like me who have the vocabulary of a 5 year old, what this means is that this Wednesday was our 2^nd to last field experience until we go home which also means that I have less than three weeks left in this amazing city!! Bittersweet to say the least, so I’m enjoying the limited amount of time I have left to the fullest. This enjoyment included this week’s trip to Budapest Great Synagogue and the Jewish Museum associated with it.   

 

Church-like feel when you enter the Synagogue

When I walked into the Synagogue my first thought was that this was not the place we were supposed to be and that we had gone to a church instead. The gigantic Star of David reassured me we were actually in the right place but the feeling that I was inside a church was still there. There were the typical 3 aisles and high ceilings and it just had a very church-like feeling. Our tour guide later explained that this was because when the Synagogue was built in the late 19^th century the Jewish population wanted to respect the majority religion which was Christian. To do this they allowed a Christian architect to design the Synagogue and the result was this church-like building. Never the less the Synagogue was beautiful with rich detail and beautiful decorations.

 

Tree memorializing those who died and were never found during WWII

After we got some insight about the history of the Synagogue we went outside and saw this tree that was made out of metal. On some of the “leaves” were names and we later learned that these names where Jewish people who disappeared during WWII who were never found by their families. Because they were never found and could not properly be buried this tree was constructed in their honor. I thought this was a great idea because it is such a beautiful structure and it is a way of “burying” loved ones when they are unable to be found after death. Along these lines we also saw a cemetery next to the Synagogue, which was explained to us as being a very rare thing. This is because in the Jewish religion cemeteries are not supposed to be built next to synagogues but during World War II this Synagogue was in the area of the Jewish Ghetto in Budapest. When the ghetto closed there were over 2,000 dead people who needed burial so the people of Budapest chose to bury them in a cemetery next to the Synagogue. The Synagogue carries with it a lot of faith and religion but it also carries with it memories of loss and suffering and I admire to Jewish faith for moving while still paying due respect to those who have passed.

 

Sacred Scroll in the Museum 

The Jewish Museum located next to the Synagogue was where we went next. The museum was fascinating and we saw old artifacts from around the world that had been sent all the way here to Budapest. Old scrolls, menorahs, symbols of religious holidays and paintings were all available for viewing. The last room in the museum was the Holocaust memorial room where we saw pictures of the ghettos, people in concentration camps, dead bodies and a bar of soap that was made out of human fat. Since being in Europe I have had so much exposure to the atrocities of World War II and it honestly never gets easier to hear or learn about. Each picture you see or story you here shows a new story of suffering peoples who did not in any way deserve what they were put through. The Jewish Museum and Synagogue gave a great depiction of Jewish life, the religion itself, the culture, the history and the suffering and I thought it was an amazing experience.

 

Just a Casual Trip to Parliament

Beautiful Parliament that I have taken dozens of photos of since I have been here just because of how beautiful it is and how amazing it looks!

The field experience for this week was one that I was very excited for because it was a trip to Parliament! First off, we have all been staring at this building for the past 3 months and for me the whole time I just imagined what amazing things could be inside and how cool it would be to get a tour of the place. This excitement was probably due to the fact that when I hear parliament I think of men in white wigs yelling at each other in British accents. Unfortunately this is not London, but I was still very intrigued by this enormous building that had become the background for almost all my pictures with its towers and guards and placement right next to the river. It was finally time to see what was inside and I was more than excited.

Blue carpet for the House of Nobles representing "blue blood"

Well first off, getting into Parliament is like going through airport security. I guess you know you’re in an important place when you see those machines that see what’s in your bag and you have to walk through a metal detector. After “security” we entered this hall and I knew I liked this place already. Our tour guide was absolutely fantastic and she explained to us the history of the building, what the statues were, and gave us some fun facts. One fact that I found very interesting and actually a little funny was that there used to be 2 houses in Parliament, the nobles and the commoners. The “lobby” of the commoner’s side had a red rug while the nobles had a blue one and our tour guide said it was because of the old “blue blood” saying. I thought this was funny because even in the United States I’ve heard this term used and I never knew it was used in other countries.

The Holy Crown was the next thing that caught my attention mainly because of how absolutely fascinating it was. This Crown was first used to crown St. Stephen and is about 1,000 years old. This blew my mind because nowhere in America can you find something that has been around for that long, which is just because our country is not that old. The crown was beautiful and after everything I have learned about it since I have been here, it was just so amazing to see the real thing.

The Holy Crown that is 1,000 years old and represents the Hungarian people and government

Parliament Session Hall

After we had the pleasure of seeing Parliament in action. The people in Parliament only work Mondays and Tuesdays and sometimes Wednesdays and we were lucky enough that that day there was a session going and we were able to watch. We didn’t have a clue what was being said but it was a very amazing experience to see government in action. What I found interesting was that some people were on their phones, making small talk, reading the newspaper and one man was even sleeping. I guess this could be because it was the third day and the speakers may have been the last ones the list but it was still interesting to see how uninteresting Parliament could be on some days. Despite how “slow” it was, I loved being able to see what a “session” in Parliament looked like.   

Overall Parliament was an amazing field experience and I am so happy we were able to go there. Not only was its beauty astounding with all the intricate details covering all the walls, every window and column built with meaning and exact precision, but it tied together everything I have learned since I have been here. It was really awesome to know what the tour guide was talking about and be able to recognize names and dates. This trip made me realize how much I have learned about Hungarian history and culture since I have been here and I am so happy this is the case!

This is such an AMAZING building!!!!

Hungary's FBI - ILEA

Last Wednesday started JSBP back on the track of actually going on field trips for our field exertions. We went to the International Law Enforcement Academy of Hungary which is equivalent to the United State’s FBI. One of our “tour guides” was actually American and part of the FBI. This is because agents from the FBI are sent to the Academy to train people from various countries around Hungary and people within Hungary as well. 

International Law Enforcement Agency aka ILEA

            We started off our trip like most of the others with a guided tour of the academy. We saw the dining facilities and then a sort of “rec lounge” where the students can hang out and play pool or just talk. Mr. Stocking said he likes this area because if a student is too afraid to open up and talk in class, this area gives them a less formal setting where they can open up and get to know the other students. After this building we saw the gym where the students worked out along with their weights and training room. We also got to see Tito miss an extremely easy shot, which was pretty entertaining. After, we saw a crime scene training facility where the students practice different arrests and entering techniques. This was really cool because it was as hands on as you could get without putting yourself in an actual crime situation. Thomas also mentioned that this was a favorite of students and teachers alike because it was hands on opposed to sitting in a classroom. Speaking of classrooms our last stop on the tour was a classroom where the question and answer session began. 

Similar to one of the classrooms we sat in during our question and answer

            Thomas Stocking, Deputy Director of the academy started us off with the history of this program and a little information about the actual FBI. He compared our governmental system where each department has a law enforcement agency aspect to it to Europe’s where most countries law enforcement is under one department. He talked about how he works for the bureau of diplomatic security and has worked with security positions in the US embassy but there are also options protecting foreign dignitaries and secretary of states. This to me sounds like a pretty awesome job especially because the bureau provides language training and lessons if you are going to be in a foreign country for an extended period of time. Mr. Stocking is currently on a 3-year assignment in Budapest but has been with the FBI for 17 years. Quite a commitment if you ask me.     

Who Hanni has to report to as part of her job

            Next up was Tibor Bennet and Hanni Goshi (excuse my spelling if it is incorrect). Tibor has been with the US embassy for 17 years but started off in the Peace Corps and then worked for the USA international development after which he became a budget analysis and finally has been working with ILEA for the past 7 years. He said he really likes to watch the development of a country as he works with setting up schools and starting education and then tries to focus on creating democracy and stopping corruption. This is amazing to me because to watch a country go from nothing to something and say that you were a part of it I’m sure is an amazing feeling and I would love to one day say I was part of something that important. After Tibor, Hanni talked to us for a little bit about her background as an FBI agent and what she does currently. Her main job at the academy is dealing with students and the Hungarian Ministry of Interior, a lot of responsibility if you ask me. She proudly stated that she was a National Academy Graduate and now works for ILEA under the positions I have mentioned before. Hanni was inspiring to me because of how proud she was to have graduated from the FBI academy and be a part of this program, training people and teaching them about investigation techniques and other things related to the law. These two people, Tibor and Hanni clearly loved their jobs and loved what they were doing to help out and I hope one day I can say I have a job that I love and a job where I make a difference.

Countries working together for a better world!

            Our last part of our journey was a question and answer session with John Terpines who was a very intellectually bright and funny man. We asked questions from family life in the FBI to how you get to work for the FBI to what happens if you mess up while in college and get arrested, what are your options. I think one of the more interesting things was how a person gets to be a part of the FBI. John talked about how he had so many different eduacational disciplines in his class and that there is no one way to working and getting into the FBI. He did mention that this job is most always a second career and people persue it at around the age of 29. What I also thought was interesting was how John talked about the importance of building relationships between countries. People complain that we are spending too much money on these educations for other countries police forces but John said that they were the most important relationships because they develop trust as well as simple connections. I agree and think that if we can stop corruption and stop police from saying things like “a wife unbeaten is like a house unkept” then we are doing well for the world and in turn doing good things for ourselves. Bringing together countries is never a bad thing and I think ILEA does a great job making relationships that may not have the chance to be made if ILEA did not exist. I had a great time at ILEA and the people there were fantastic and I would like to thank them for their time and amazing hospitality.           

An Amazing End to An Amazing Line of Guest Speakers

So this week we met with our last guest speaker of the semester. Most people would see this as being a good thing because it means winter vacation is almost here bringing with it a break from schoolwork. Well, I’m just going to say that this outlook is not shared by yours truly, and I would rather have hundreds of more guest speakers if it meant I got to spend more time in this amazing city learning all of the interesting things we do every week. Unfortunately, good things must come to an end and with this week, as mentioned before, comes our final guest speaker and the countdown of our final four field experiences. What this boils down to is the fact that I will be leaving this amazing city in 6 weeks and the best four months of my life will come to an end. The silver lining of this sad truth is that I could not have picked a better guest speaker to conclude the long list of amazing ones we have had this semester.

            Wednesday, we were joined by Andras Baneth, who made the journey all the way from Brussels to talk to us. Andras said that he was briefly going to talk about the EU and more specifically the Euro crisis and after we would have a chance to ask questions and he would, to the best of his ability, answer them. The EU or European Union has 27 member states, soon to be increased to 28 with the inclusion of Croatia in the upcoming years. According to Mr. Baneth, this “union” lies between an international organization where governments cooperate on equal terms but it is still not equivalent to a United States of Europe. To put it simply, this is not one single entity, but the governments of various countries do work together to solve issues. I have always been interested in the EU and this fact has always made me question whether an organization like this could ever work. The pessimist in me thinks that without a strong hierarchy to control all of these member states, there is no way anything can get done because human nature would prevent people from putting other’s needs in front of their own without incentive. This organization is based on complete trust that if two or more countries have an issue they will choose to peacefully talk about it and come to a conclusion without any real authority pushing them to do so. However as we soon learned the European Union has succeeded in keeping the countries within Europe from fighting one another.

The EU was created after World War II to allow countries to communicate with one another and stop a third world war from happening in the future. This has proved successful in the fact that there have been no wars between the members of the EU states since it was created. As pessimistic as I sounded before, Andras made it sound like this was a great way for countries to have the option to “talk it out” so to speak instead of grabbing their guns and declaring war on each other. This is also supported by the fact that after WWII countries became more interdependent upon one another so they refrain from going to war with one another because doing so may hurt their economies more than just figuring out the problem peacefully. I would be inclined to say that by countries being interdependent; it provides the hierarchy I thought was missing before and is that incentive to not go to war. This makes the whole European Union successful in it’s goal of somewhat uniting Europe and preventing wars.

After our European Union background, Mr. Baneth went on to talk about the Euro and the ever-apparent Euro crisis. First off only 17 member states are on the Euro, which was a small number in my mind because I believed that when you joined to European Union, it was in a countries nature to go ahead and adopt the Euro. This thought was supported by the fact that the Euro was created in order to bring member states closer. Without a common language and no single ruling government, the lack of culture must be replaced with something and that something is currency. This idea of unity is a good one of course but like Andras mentioned, it is hard to have a single currency with so many different economies. Because of the variety of economies there are net players who are the key financers of the EU budget and include the Scandinavian Countries as well as Germany. The problem arises when these countries no longer think it is in their best interest to pay more taxes to help countries like Greece survive economically. Why would Germany want to pay higher taxes so the people of Greece can retire at the age of 60 or why should they bail them out when their economic crisis is mostly their own fault? This is becoming the issue around Europe and from what it sounded like to me, the Euro may not have a fighting chance.

However, Mr. Baneth cleared this right up and said that he does not in fact think that the Euro will fail and if it did it would be a huge loss for Europe. Going off of this very thought, the reason Greece is being supported is because if countries just give up on Greece, other economically struggling countries will look at the European Union and think they will too be given up on. Like I mentioned before it is all about trust between member states and what better way to create trust than saving someone’s economic future.

Mr. Baneth was an amazing speaker with all of his analogies and story-like approach. I was fully engaged the whole time and was so interested at everything he had to say. I am far from an expert on economics but Andras made things a littler more clearer in my mind and simplified what is such a complicated problem so that we could better understand the situation. In my mind I don’t know if I think the Euro is such a good idea but I think that now that it is in effect it must be kept up with. With its defeat would bring a loss of moral for the member states of the European Union and in the most extreme of cases could lead to the dismemberment of the European Union itself. So to all of you at home watching Greece on the news, its not just about cool riots and protests, it represents a much bigger issue that is sweeping across Europe; does the Euro as a common currency actually work? I’ll guess I’ll leave this up to all of you to decide. Have a good weekend!