Mrs. Uličná, can you first explain to our readers what geniza actually is?

Geniza is the habit of putting away objects that no longer serve their purpose in the religious life of the Jewish community. The same term is also used to refer to a closed, publicly inaccessible space where worn-out prayer books, parts of biblical texts, as well as synagogue furnishings and archival material were deposited. And this place was usually the synagogue's attic. The items would lie in the geniza until they completely disintegrated, or could eventually be buried in the Jewish cemetery.

Why can't religious books and ritual objects be thrown away in the regular garbage?

The reason for the geniza is respect for God's name. Items that have one of God's names written on them are primarily put away in the geniza, and we put them away so that we do not destroy God's name with our own hands. I encourage anyone who would like to learn more about geniza to visit the website geniza.cz.

Most of the fragments found are prayer books from the late 19th century, so they are older than the synagogue itself. Most of them are siddurim, prayer books for everyday life. We also dug a shiviti tablet and its frame out of the rubble pile. These tablets used to be hung at the prayer desk or bimah where the Torah is read from, and they bear the text "I set the Lord always before my eyes" (Psalm 16:8). The discovery of a manuscript memorandum book containing the names of deceased members of the Jewish community is important for genealogical research.

We were surprised by a beautiful huge chandelier. In the genizahs, we find parts of candlesticks, drip pans, and even craters, but the whole chandelier is really in the genizas. Although we have not yet been able to identify it with the chandeliers in the historical photographs of the synagogue, it is clear that it was used in the synagogue. Parts of the synagogue interior were added to the genizah from the pieties, but a building this size is truly unique.

We would like to restore and digitize the monument and a few fragments of books with ownership inscriptions at the Jewish Museum in Prague so that they will be accessible to the widest possible circle of researchers and laymen interested in the history of the Jewish community in Milevsko. Most of the findings, however, we would like to in Milevsk and we will be helpful if a display case commemorating the Jews of Milevsk is created in the former synagogue or museum.