From The Jewish Press: The Mystery Of Prague’s Missing Vav.
Posted on December 8, 2004 09:41 AM. Filed under: history & archaeology.The glistening golden letters around the statue of Jesus have always been a matter of controversy for Prague's Jews. The statue with the letters raised around it is a central feature on the Charles Bridge, the bridge that spans the Vltava River, joining the two halves of Prague.
It was built in Prague's golden age by King Charles I, the Czech king who went on to become Charles IV of the Holy Roman Empire. The bridge is one of the artistic wonders of Prague, a city full of crowds admiring the statues of saints and kings bedecking the sides of the structure, long since converted into a pedestrian avenue. But the statue of Jesus has long been the center of contention.
In 1696, the Prague authorities accused a local Jewish leader, one Elias Backoffen, of blasphemy. As his punishment he was ordered to raise the funds for the purchase of gold-plated Hebrew letters, to be placed around the head of the statue and spell out "Holy, Holy, Holy, the Lord of Hosts," the Hebrew prayer from the Kedusha. The inscription was a symbolic humiliation and degradation of Prague’s Jews, who were forced to pay for a set of golden letters referring to God and hung around the neck of the statue of Jesus. [continue]