THE MAHARAL'S STORY

Imagine
old Prague in the 16th century...

The M Lounge is named after The Maharal (aka Rabbi Loew) who was a man of many talents. Best-known as the creator of the Golem in Jewish folklore, he was an inspirational character for reasons beyond his mythical renown.

His epoch – the Prague of Rudolf II – was an exciting time for ideas in an unprecedented age when Science, Religion and Art existed and engaged in close proximity.

As an esteemed educator, the Maharal sought to popularise and remove unnecessary complexity from religion so that people could engage more with their faith. Yet, despite being a man steeped in the traditions of his beliefs, he was never uncomfortable challenging the status quo, and he used tools outside of the prevailing orthodoxy to achieve this. He was a product of his time—a liberal age when scientists could openly mingle and discourse with priests—and he challenged the confines of traditional thought with his texts and teachings.

He was a man of Religion, but the Maharal was also said to have been a great mathematician. He kept company with one of the foremost “scientists” of the time, Tycho Brahe, the man responsible for bringing Johannes Kepler to Prague. It was within the Maharal’s time, within this milieu of renaissance men, scientists, alchemists, magicians and modern theologians, that the Scientific Revolution gathered pace and, in turn, the modern era was ushered in.

We feel that, since that zeitgeist, something has been lost: The idea that all human learning and striving should attain something higher; the idea that different schools of thought can and should be reciprocally influential.

And it is with this in mind that we remember the Maharal, the man and his times, as we build a testament to his age.