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CERTAIN SUMMER TRADITIONS
/UST KEEP COMING BACK.
\`,/tAtft /1
Jewish Renaissance
in Eastern Berlin
OTHERS COME BACK
BETTER THAN EVER!
RUTH ROVNER SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS
Announcing the new Camp Sea-Gull for Girls.
T
Since 1955, the Schulman family has ofFered traditional summer camping
in a nurturing, fun-filled environment. Now we're back, with an exciting new
format for girls ages 7-16.
4
At Camp Sea-Gull, your daughter will learn
new skills in a setting that encourages personal growth, success and life-long
friendships. Our program includes tennis, soccer, sailing, canoeing, horseback
riding, drama, arts and crafts, overnights and much, much more.
We offer three and six-week sessions, a 3:1 camper-counselor
AIP. ratio, a high quality staff and limited enrollment.
f
CAMP SEA-GULL
To find out more, ask for our brochure.
Call bill Schulman at 616-547-6556
or Jack Schulman at 810 -851 -1318.oti Lc tr:t2sti g
e bhewaeustff wLeZOlae% ix.
08580 Boyne City Road, Charlevoix, M I 49720
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28411 NORTHWESTERN HWY.
AT BECK RD. SUf E 250
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YOU'D BE
CRUISING
OR
SURFING
OR
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WE ACCEPT
Touch A Life.
The United Way.
he domed synagogue is a
striking sight. Its Moorish
facade is graceful and or-
nate, and its central dome
soars upward and seems to pierce
the sky.
Around this dome are two
smaller ones. All three are gilt-
rimmed and gleam in the sun-
shine.
Visitors stand across the street
to get a better look. Some point
their cameras toward the domes.
Others just stand and admire the
sight.
Ever since it was rededicated
last May, this synagogue in east-
ern Berlin has drawn thousands
of visitors. They came not only to
admire its beauty but also be-
cause of what it represents: a re-
birth of Jewish life, a symbol of
hope.
Even before I visited Berlin, I
had read about the New Syna-
gogue, as it's called. Once it was
the pride of Berlin's Jewish com-
munity, one of the greatest syn-
agogues in Europe and reputedly
the largest in the world when it
was completed in 1866.
But this great synagogue was
set ablaze in Nov. 9, 1938. That
was the night when synagogues
all across Germany were at-
tacked, and this one was not
spared. It barely escaped total de-
struction.
Soon, it was taken over by the
Nazis, who used its interior as a
storeroom. Still later, for four re-
lentless days in November 1943,
it was heavily damaged during
the Allied bombing of Berlin.
Afterwards, it lay in ruins.
But in 1938, an extensive
restoration project began. And
when East and West Germany
were reunified and the Berlin
Wall came down, the German
government undertook to com-
plete the restoration at a cost of
almost $50 million.
Slowly, painstakingly, the
golden dome was restored to its
original beauty; the facade was
renovated; inside, it was trans-
formed into a Jewish culture cen-
ter, with exhibits of Jewish life in
Berlin.
Last May, over 4,000 people
attended the gala rededication
ceremony and heard Berlin May-
or Eberhard Diepgen call the
dome "a symbol of hope and self-
understanding for this city."
Since then, the synagogue has
become a major attraction in
Berlin, visited by Jews and non-
Jews, tourists and native Ber-
liners, Americans, Europeans,
Israelis, and many others.
Like so many other travelers
to Berlin, I, too, made the syna-
gogue a top priority IA hen I visit-
ed Berlin. A subway transported
me easily from the heart of west-
em Berlin. A subway transport-
ed me easily from the heart of
western Berlin to the stop near
Oranienburgerstrasse, where the
synagogue is located.
Getting off, I saw the golden
dome dominating the view. A
cluster of Israeli tourists was
sanding outside, admiring the
graceful facade.
Even though it was an ordi-
nary Tuesday afternoon, people
were standing in line waiting to
be admitted to the exhibits with-
in. This is not a functioning syn-
agogue — its huge sanctuary
would be impractical in Berlin to-
day; the interior is now a culture
center with a number of well-de-
tailed exhibits about Jewish
Berlin.
Inside, the exhibit room was
devoted to the synagogue itself.
One display presented the key
dates in the synagogue's event-
ful history, from the tart of con-
struction on May 17, £859, to the
rededication on May 7, 1995.
Another display detailed the
restoration effort and its difficul-
ties, especially since so many ob-
jects had been destroyed.
But not everything was de-
stroyed. On display in a place of
honor in the center of the room
was a fragmented marble plat-
form, the bimah was discovered
under a concrete floor which the
Nazis had installed when they
used the sanctuary as a store-
room.
Other objects — precious be-
cause original — were also dis-
covered after the renovation
began and were on display, in-
cluding the eternal light and a
marble wash stand.
Also in this room was a scale
model of the New Synagogue,
which allowed visitors to picture
the grandeur of the original syn-
agogue with its huge sanctuary.
The second exhibit room
focused more generally on Jew-
ish life in Berlin, loot h past and
present.
One exhibit detailed Jewish
life in the days when the syna-
gogue was the center of an active
Jewish community, with social
welfare agencies, clubs, and
more.
Then, too, there was a photo
display of scenes from modern
Jewish Berlin. For three years,
starting in 1992, photographer
Michael Kerstgen took photos of
scenes that would capture Jew-
ish life.
A Russian Jewish wedding, a
Maccabea ball, a bar mitzvah, a