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NEW JEWS, NEW GERMANY
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Kenneth Stein takes a revealing trip to the country his parents fled.
B
erlin — Jewish life in Ger-
many is resurgent. But Ger-
man Jewry today is a mix of
strange contrasts that leaves
the visitor — particularly one with
deep German roots — pondering the
not distant depths of destruction that
still mark Jewish life here.
As one ironic example, a pictorial
history of Israel graces the lobby of the
Berlin Philharinonic Hall. During
intermission between Beethoven's
fourth and fifth symphonies, I heard
4/3
1998
80
Two-thirds of
dozens of Germans
DR.
KENNETH
W.
STEIN
Berlin's
Jewish com-
marvel over the Jew-
munity are native
Special to The Jewish News
ish state's half-centu-
Russian speakers.
ry of accomplish-
Meanwhile, because
ments.
there
is
no
separation
of religion and
In Berlin alone, there are perhaps as
state,
the
federal
and
local
governments
many as 20,000 Jews; more come
provide
90
percent
of
the
money
need-
every week from the former Soviet
ed
to
run
organized
Jewish
life.
republics. Highest estimates put the
Yet, every synagogue except one is
country's Jewish population at
100,000 — just above metropolitan hidden from the street behind huge
Detroit's. Lower numbers range walls with gun-toting policemen. They
guard black-lettered gold signs that
between 60,000 and 70,000.
merely state a synagogue's name. Inside
the one I attended on Shabbat, you
enter a door, pass an unobtrusive hall-
way that opens to a courtyard, then to
the synagogue entrance. Finally, you go
through a portal to the sanctuary under
a sign that reads "Six million deacc : . >
1939-1945."
In the midst of the service, with
dozens of keys on his ring, the gabbai
or worship service coordinator, in a
demonstration of personal authority
and institutional security, physically
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