Jewish cultural life brings visitors
Of the more than 260 communities throughout Europe that actively participated in the sixth European Day of Jewish Culture, more than 70 were located in Germany
BERLIN - The German section of this year’s European Day of Jewish Culture has been rated a success by local organizers, with a significant increase in attendees.
Readings, lectures, special exhibits, kosher kitchens as well as synagogue and cemetery open houses were flooded with curiosity seekers, as well as friends of the Jewish communities.
Of the more than 260 communities throughout Europe that actively participated in the sixth European Day of Jewish Culture, more than 70 of them were located in Germany.
Events in other European cities
Gabriela Schlick, who ran Frankfurt’s events, organized a day of dialogue and understanding. More than 400 people packed the Frankfurt venues to hear stories of tragedy and survival, such as the story of Ilse Stein’s deportation from Minsk.
But visitors were not only taken through journeys of the past. They were also given the opportunity to be consumed by culinary delicacies or music of the present.
Konrad Pflug, director of the events taking place in the state of Baden-Wurttemberg, told EJP from Stuttgart that he noted “a profound interest in existing Jewishness rather than in the ancient one.”
The Jewish past of the town of Rottweil, for example, is, according to Pflug, “only starting to exist again”. More than 100 visitors made their way to Rottweil in order to learn about the secrets of the kosher kitchen.
Rottweil, like so many southwestern German towns, was a thriving medieval center of Jewish learning and commerce. It was also a centre of countless attempts of persecution. For this historical reason, most of Germany’s European Day of Jewish Culture events were found in this part of the country.
Germany’s southwestern state of Baden-Wurttemberg counted 31 events. The Karlsruhe synagogue open house alone attracted over 600 people.
Russian disinterest
Germany ranks fourth, after France, Russia and the United Kingdom, in terms of Europe’s official Jewish population. But despite the rapid growth, a majority of the community is made up of recent Russian immigrants who have shown little interest in German Jewish culture.
The lack of concern on the part of the Russian majority of Germany’s Jewish population has been offset by the increasing interest that non-Jews are showing towards a community their forefathers almost succeeded at destroying.
In Augsburg, the world of Jewish cooking was the biggest attraction. Dr. Benigna Schonhagen, organizer of the Augsburg event told EJP that the “Learning with the Rabbi” kosher demonstration was the biggest attraction of the day. Though Passover is still half a year way, there were plenty of matzah baking opportunities for children.
“All in all, this was a particularly successful day because, for the first time, quite a few members of the local Jewish community attended,” Schonhagen said.
Pflug suggested that the current onslaught of visitors to this year’s event could have been “in response to the Pope’s visit (to the Cologne synagogue), a fortnight ago”.
Strasbourg mikve
Tourists flocked to the Jewish quarter of the French city of Strasbourg on Sunday to celebrate the European Day of Jewish Culture in the place it was launched nine years ago.
The event, which was celebrated in 26 countries throughout Europe, included debates, games, workshops, concerts and exhibitions. It also gave the people of Strasbourg the opportunity to rediscover its old Jewish quarters.
One of the major sites of Jewish Strasbourg is a mikve (ritual bath) from the 13th century that was discovered 20 years ago.
“The mikve proves that Jews lived here in the middle ages,” tourist office deputy director Annie Dumoulin told EJP.
“But historians think that the Jewish presence goes far beyond that period, and that Jews arrived to the town with the Romans. Since the synagogues and sites have been destroyed, nothing can be proved.”
The Jewish presence can be seen through small details and clues such as the name of a street, “The Jews’ Street”, and a sculpture of a synagogue on the cathedral.
The only major trace of Jewish life in Strasbourg that can be visited aside from the mikve is the "Synagogue of Peace." It was built after the Second World War in replacement of a former synagogue that was burnt by the Nazis.
Countryside community
Most of the other temples in the region stand outside of Strasbourg, scattered in the countryside.
“Jews were not allowed to live in the city from the 14th century until 1789, the year of the French Revolution. That’s why small synagogues are located in small villages of the surroundings,” Dumoulin said. “There was a plague epidemic in the 14th century and the Jews were accused of poisoning the gentiles. That’s why they were banned from the city.”
The Jewish community lived for four centuries outside of the city, up until 1789. Then came the French revolution, which brought along with it a legal statute for the Jews and the right to live in Strasbourg.
Post-revolution respect
The Jewish community’s life after the Revolution can be imagined by examining the exhibition presented in the Alsace museum. The documents displayed show genuine love for the Republic, that gave Jews a statute and showed them respect. Documents in Hebrew praise Napoleon 1st.
As the Jews went back to the city, countryside synagogues were gradually abandoned.
Today the synagogues of the Lower Rhine region are considered regional and national treasures. Bnai Brith Strasbourg and the Tourist board of Lower Alsace decided to protect and promote that heritage by organizing the Day of Jewish culture.
The idea was spread to other communities and four years later, the event was celebrated across Europe, just as it is today.
Reprinted courtesy European Jewish Press
