The pilgrimage route starts and ends at the Jewish Cultural and Information Center in Mád, located in the former rabbinical school building. For this reason, Mád is considered an emblematic Jewish cultural heritage site of Tokaj-Hegyalja. In Mád, a late 18th-century synagogue built in the Zopf style can be visited. The Mád synagogue is regarded as one of the most beautiful in the world and is therefore included in the American publication The 100 Most Beautiful Synagogues in the World. The town also hosts the largest Jewish cemetery in Tokaj-Hegyalja, where the graves of renowned rabbis of the community, such as Abraham Schwartz and Mordechai Winkler, can also be found.
In Tarcal, Jewish families arriving from Poland settled from the mid-18th century. Their Baroque synagogue was likely built between 1790 and 1810 in the Zopf style. In the Jewish cemetery of Tarcal lies the grave of the town’s famous rabbi, Jakab Spira.
The next stop is Tokaj, where the former synagogue, after complete renovation and transformation, now functions as a cultural and conference center. Near it is the only active prayer house in the region. An interesting fact is that the old cemetery is located near the ruins of Tokaj Castle, in the floodplain of the Bodrog River, and can only be accessed by ferry.
Bodrogkeresztúr is one of the key points of the route, as it was home to the famous miracle rabbi of the Jewish community, Reb Steiner Saje. The memorial house established at his former residence is a popular pilgrimage site, just like his grave in the Jewish cemetery on the slope of Dereszla Hill.
Another important stop is Olaszliszka, whose miracle rabbi, Friedmann Cvi Hershele, was raised in Sátoraljaújhely in the home of the also famous Rabbi Moses Teitelbaum, and after his death elevated Olaszliszka into a center of Hungarian Hasidism.
Sátoraljaújhely is also unmissable, as it is home to the modern-style grave of Rabbi Teitelbaum, the founder of Hungarian Hasidism. As a charismatic figure, he was revered as a tzaddik (miracle rabbi), consulted on all areas of life, and widely sought after for his protective and healing talismans. Today, only two Jewish cemeteries and a ruined small prayer house remain. Opposite the railway station, a centuries-old cemetery climbs the hillside, from whose entrance a few steps lead to the grave of Moses Teitelbaum.
The former synagogue in Erdőbénye has also fallen into decay; only the fenced Jewish cemetery at the edge of the village recalls the once-present Jewish community. However, it is home to the region’s only Jewish bathhouse, whose ruined building is in urgent need of restoration.
In Tolcsva, located 3 kilometers from Erdőbénye, stands the birthplace of William Fox, founder of the American Fox Film studio. Two major figures of American film production were Adolph Zukor (born Zucker Adolf in Ricsé) and William Fox (born Fuchs Vilmos in Tolcsva).
In Abaújszántó, Jews settled in 1765 from nearby Austria as well as Bohemia and Moravia, under the protection of Prince Karl of Bretzenheim. The town was once an important commercial and market center. Its large synagogue, now used as a warehouse, was built in 1896. In its well-maintained cemetery, the graves of two notable rabbis, Eleazar Löw and Arje Lőb Lipschütz, are worth visiting.
The final stop of the circular route is Tállya, where the first Jewish wine merchants settled in the 17th century. From then on, the Jewish population steadily grew, and at one point the settlement had three synagogues. These were later converted or demolished after the Holocaust. In the village’s cemetery, in the ohel, rest the famous rabbis of Tállya, Gerson Rosenbaum and his son Arje Leib.
