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Coll The Sales Department (810) 354-7123 Ext. 209 THE JEWISH NEWS
Your United Way
Contribution
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Homeless People
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All Over.
United Way
Meeting A Jew
Living In Germany
RUTH ROVNER SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS
I
t was one of those experiences just to living as a young Jew in
that comes unexpectedly, and Germany.
that often makes travel even
"It's difficult to escape the
more interesting.
shadow of the Holocaust.
After spending several Stuart Light It does tend to follow you
days in Cologne, I took a is an
around," Rabbi Light ad-
train to nearby Dusseldorf
mitted as we sat in his of-
assi stant
to revisit its Jewish Corn-
rab bi in
fice in the JCC. He recalled'
munity Center and inter- Dusse Wort. the first time he got on a
view the executive
train in Germany. In-
director, Michael Szentei-Heise. evitably, he thought of the Jews
As he gave me details about who rode cattle cars on these
how this Jewish community in same tracks, going to their
the northern Rhine is thriving, deaths.
he mentioned that for the first
"Some things in your gut you
time, the community had hired never escape," he observed.
an assistant rabbi. "And he's
But besides the shadow of the
from the United States," he past, there was also modem Ger-
added.
many — and its positive aspects.
Where in the U.S. he was "The Germans I've met are very
from took me my surprise. The friendly, open and accepting,"
new assistant rabbi was from the rabbi said. "So you begin to
Philadelphia, my own home realize that a lot of the feelings
town. Minutes later, Stuart you harbor inside are innate
Light had joined us. Meeting a prejudices. They're not based on
Philadelphia native in this un- the reality of modern Germany."
likely foreign city was indeed a
Despite the good will of most
novelty.
Germans, he did have one expe-
Especially interesting was rience of overt anti-Semitism.
talking to the 26-year-old assis- "But it was the first one and the
tant rabbi about his unusual and only one," he emphasized. In the
challenging work and about the bus station in Hamburg, Rabbi
experience of being a young Jew Light was rushing to get a bus
living in Germany.
back to Dusseldorf and someone
This young American Jew is yelled Jude! (German for "Jew").
a pioneer: He's not only the first
"I wasn't shocked," he said.
assistant rabbi for the Dussel- "Actually, I was waiting for
dorf Jewish community but also something like that to happen.
the only American holding a rab- But it could have happened any-
binical position in all of Ger- where, not only in Germany."
many.
But what does remind him of -\
After completing his third how different Germany is from
year of rabbinical studies at the the U.S. is the fact that there are
Jewish Theological Seminary in bulletproof doors on the JCC
New York City last spring, the building, a daily reminder of
rabbi packed up and moved to how different Germany is.
Dusseldorf last July to be his
Security is tight at all German
16-month stint as assistant rab- synagogues and JCCs. In Dus-
bi.
seldorf; as elsewhere, visitors are
Besides adapting to a foreign screened by security officials be-
city — and to a new language fore they are buzzed in. c/
(he took a crash course in Ger-
All this is quite different from
man at Columbia University, the environment he knew in the
but is still perfecting his German states. Growing up in suburban
every day) — he also had to ad- Philadelphia and later attend-