It's the Ryke Street Synagogue, btw.
Gorgeous interior.
Posted on 08/31/2007 9:06:03 AM PDT by knighthawk
BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany's biggest synagogue, a century-old landmark which was torched by the Nazis and left to fester in communist East Berlin, reopened its doors on Friday in the latest sign of the country's Jewish revival.
Located in the German capital's now trendy district of Prenzlauer Berg, the 1,000-seat synagogue has been returned to its former glory thanks to a painstaking 7-year restoration project that cost 7 million euros (4.7 million pounds).
The restoration of the blue-domed temple follows last year's opening of a new synagogue in Munich and ordination of Germany's first rabbis since World War Two.
But it also comes after a series of high-profile far-right attacks on immigrants and an increase in violent crimes by neo-Nazis, particularly in the poorer former communist east.
Among those at the reopening was 85-year-old Rita Rubinstein, who had refused to set foot in Germany after fleeing Nazi persecution in 1936. Her parents were married in the synagogue in 1905 and she worshipped there as a child.
"It was difficult to come back to Berlin because of the past, but seeing the new synagogue was extraordinary," she told Reuters. "The Jewish community is really blossoming."
At a ceremony attended by Interior Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble, there was a mood of celebration in the towering building. Golden chandeliers now hang from the ceiling, intricate hand-cut stonework adorns the altar and the blue dome glitters with golden stars.
The synagogue was a focal point for Jews in East Germany but fell into disrepair. It has been shut for roughly two years while final restoration work took place.
KRISTALLNACHT
Germany is now home to an estimated 100,000 Jews, compared with 12,000 after the war.
The collapse of communism brought a flood of Jewish immigrants from former Soviet countries which swelled the population so much that there is now a shortage of rabbis.
Before the war there were some 600,000 Jews living in Germany -- a community that was devastated by the Nazis.
Hundreds of synagogues across the country were destroyed, many during the November 9-10 1938 pogrom known as Kristallnacht. The east Berlin temple was also set on fire that night but neighbours extinguished it to protect nearby homes.
To protect against a new far-right threat, police blockaded neighbouring streets and guests were screened with metal detectors at Friday's event.
Far-right violence last year reached its highest level in Germany since reunification in 1990.
"It's a miracle that we Jews are back in Berlin," said Rabbi Chaim Rozwaski at the opening ceremony. "The new synagogue symbolises our dreams for the future".
Reuters (IDS)
Ping
How long before some Muzzies try to vandalize it?
It's the Ryke Street Synagogue, btw.
Gorgeous interior.
Rykestrasse, bitte.
It’s been a long time since WWII, and Germany STILL isn’t safe for Judaeism.
For the life of me I don’t understand why a Jew would live in Germany, surrounded all the time by the children and grandchildren of the people who murdered their families. Why Germany? America I understand. Israel would take all of them. Why Germany? I ask this question in all sincerity. I don’t get it. I’m Jewish and even the thought of visiting Germany makes me uncomfortable.
Rykestraße, bitte sehr!
< g >
A lot of American Jews are very hostile to German Jews, as well.
My best friend growing up was Jewish (her mom and mine were best friends, and we were born 3 days apart). When she married a German Jewish boy, we thought her mother was going to have a coronary. She was VERY upset, wouldn't even meet him for a long time.
The reason I have been given is another aspect of your observation -- how could they stay? They're almost viewed as traitors in some quarters.
Warning! This is a high-volume ping list.
Amen to that. As a matter of fact, with 'Eretz Yisra'el now open to settlement I have no idea why Jews want to live in Europe at all. It's a Jewish cemetery.
High Volume. Articles on Israel can also be found by clicking on the Topic or Keyword Israel. or WOT [War on Terror]
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same thought popped into my mind as well. Just a matter of time before the Islamo nuts initiate violence against the congregation.
I certainly can understand those who would never want to return to the site of such unspeakable atrocities - even 60-odd years later. In fact my mother, who just returned from visiting a sick cousin in Trier (anyone know where that is?), was extremely unhappy about going, to say the least. On the other hand my dad, who fought in the war, has no such qualms about today’s Germany, feeling it bears little resemblance to its Nazi past.
As for my (Jewish) cousin and her German husband, they tell me that while there’s hardly a thriving Jewish culture at this time, Jew-bashing is not common among the German people of today. Hopefully it will never rear its ugly head again, but if it does, it will most likely be at the hands of the Muzzies.
It's about retaking, reclaiming, the home that once was theirs before it was stolen by the Nazis and then by the USSR. It is flaunting your survival in the land of the killer. It is a sprout of life that rises from the frozen Earth in spring, pushing through the lingering frost, unforgetting, undefeated, undying.
Why Germany? The more important question is, why not? Why should Jews permanently surrender that patch of Earth? Why let the bad guys win the Judenrat future they fought and murdered for? To me, every Shabbat, every wedding, every briss in that temple is an act of dancing on -- or, to be more blunt and graphic, pissing on -- the graves of Hitler and Stalin. I salute their resolve.
I understand what you’re saying but it seems odd to spend your life merely making a point, rather than getting on with things. My family left eastern Poland due to Tsarist pogroms, yet now that the Tsars and their Bolshevik successors are gone I have no desire to return to my “homeland”. What’s there for me in Poland? My life is here. It isn’t like Germany or Poland are some ancestral home, like Israel is. The thriving Jewish cultures of those countries was destroyed. What is there to return to? I guess it’s just me, I don’t get it.
I understand your point, too. I don't know how many of these folks are elderly, returning o homes they still remember; how many are reclaiming ancestral homes they only know from stories told by parents and grandparents; and how many are Pan-Zionists (Hey! I just made up a new term! Go, me!) who want to reclaim something stolen from them in a vague and impersonal sense.
I think that one of the great virtues -- or, at least, a pragmatically beneficial trait -- of Americans is the brevity of our cultural memory. We do not hold thousand-year grudges. So you own that hunk of rock? I found my own piece of the rock. Shrug. Live and let live.
With rare exceptions, even the Navajo and the Cherokee -- and if anyone has a legit gripe, let's face it, they do -- don't cling to past animus. They're content to fleece the white folks in their casinos, and more power to 'em.
What’s there for me in Poland? My life is here.
I'm an urban guy. I am not inclined to go live in Appalachia. But I can go visit the graves of my ancestors; and I know that when I am not there, there is a community that will keep an eye on things and cut down the weeds. It ain't much, but it's a lot more than nothing.
It isn’t like Germany or Poland are some ancestral home, like Israel is.
How so? Did your parents or grandparents, or any folks you actually met, ever live in Israel?
I understand the religious and cultural heritage. I'm not dismissing that. But when my grandmother talks about how she remembers the porch she used to sit on, and how her pet puppy licked her toes, I'd like to see that porch. I'd like to be able to meet the folks who knew her or dated her, or if they're gone, the folks they told about it.
Even in a media-besotted culture, oral tradition is a powerful thing. Most of the wisdom of daily life is not in print unless someone seeks it out and puts it there.
The thriving Jewish cultures of those countries was destroyed. What is there to return to? I guess it’s just me, I don’t get it.
What Jewish culture was there in the British Palestine protectorate before 1948? Even after the declaration of the State of Israel, it was another twenty years, give or take, before they reached the Western Wall.
I don't understand the ties to these places any more than you do; the ties are not mine. But whether it's a first-hand memory or a carefully-taught story, the ties are real to the folks who hold them.
And like a last smoldering ember they can nurse into flame, or a sprouting seed they can nurse into a shrub, they are bringing it along. As long as they don't preach harm to others, I am not inclined to question their reasons. They want to do good, as they find it, and are willing to commit to that duty. I salute their resolve, and I have no reason to doubt their motives.
We could have a never-ending discussion on what it means to do good works. In fact, that discussion began a long time ago and won't end for a long time, which isn't exactly the same as "never-ending," but it's kinda close.
These Jews are working to rebuild communities that once were. I do not know what drives them. I don't need to know. At least as far as I know, they are not posing a threat to anyone anywhere. And I must respect their commitment. If they take a militant or violent or, let's be honest, stupid stance, I'll call that out. That has not happened.
The Israelis were quite angry about this fact and we Germans changed some our immigration laws relating to jews from eastern Europe because of massive pressure from Tel Aviv.
BTW - as a German I have to say that in the meantime Germany is not that hostile and God-less place for Jews anymore that it used to be. There is of course indeed still some antisemitism hidden in our society (espechially in eastern Germany), and muslims (a 3.7% minority) might play a slight but unimportant role.
My wife is working in the administration of a Univercity for music. Over her connections I always hire studends to give my kids music lessons. So we "employ" a jewish girl from Russia who is teaching piano and a young jewish man from Tel Aviv who gives clarinet lessons. We talked with each other and they told me that they feel absolutely safe. Of course you do not see that they are jewish since both of them are secular.
The town I am working for as the city architect since last year has a small jewish community. The members are quite respected people, but it might be true that under a friendly surface there is some hidden hate and prejudice. Germany has still some old nazis just like most other western countries do (even the US must live with this hidden plague). Nevertheless people like me do everything to overcome such BS.
Since 2002 they are using a new synagoge:
Alemannia Judaica (sorry - in German)
On this photo you see our mayor (my boss :) - in the brown suit) on the official inauguration ceremony.
Here you can see a jewish cortege trough the old town of Rottweil:
Rottweil (founded by the Romans 2000 years ago and full of history - south-west Germany) had a small jewish community before 1933 that was destroyed by large parts during the nazi reign. Between 1933 and 1945 it is assured that 9 jews from the 96 who lived in Rottweil in 1933 died in concentration camps. Many of the others could leave Germany in the right time. After the war some jews came back and during the 90ties their community was inflated by some jews from other parts of Germany and from abroad. The town itself is happy that jewish life happens again and of course we tried to support the new community with our possibilities and our good-will.
I will not deny that such a friendly together could be quite difficult in some towns in eastern Germany. Nevertheless it has to be said that not all of eastern Germany consists of neo-nazis. Personally I made the experience that there are huge differences between some areas.
Amen to your post
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