d.

Opinion

A Bavarian Welcome

W

e just returned from Munich,
Germany, the cradle of the
Nazi Party, bringing the latest
story from the rebirth of a Jewish com-
munity.
On May 12-16, Munich hosted the
Okumenischer Kirchentag in Germany,
an ecumenical conference of Catholics
and Protestants; but the Jewish commu-
nity was a part of it. Among the musical
events on the opening night, klezmer and
Israeli music groups played for a large
crowd across from the synagogue. The
Jewish Museum, operated by the city, was
open and filled with visitors.
On the fairgrounds, the "Zentrum
Juden u. Christen im Dialog" was posi-
tioned as the first place a visitor saw at
the shuttle bus stop.
That same week, the Volkshochschule,
on the site of the Einstein family's old
electric factory, presented a poster exhib-
it of the Jews in Munich. The Alpines
Museum had a large photographic exhib-
it of Jews in the Alps, named "Hast du
meine Alpen gesehen?" The archaeology
museum, on the site of the old headquar-
ters of the Nazi Party, contained a col-
lection donated by James Loeb, a Jewish
banker from New York. I walked by large
audiences surrounding Jewish klezmer
musicians along the street, an American
in a colorful kippah, and two Russians.
Before World War II, Munich had

9,000 Jews. Afterwards, there
were 398. Now there are
9,000 Jews again. The rabbi
of the Hauptsynagogue, from
Philadelphia, tells me that half
are Russian. On Shabbat, the
kiddush offers wine, grape
juice or vodka. Munich has five
synagogues: three Orthodox
and two Progressive.
On Nov. 9, 2006, the anniver-
sary of Kristallnacht, the new
Hauptsynagogue of Munich
was inaugurated. As it hap-
pened, we were in Munich; and
I watched as a parade of politicians and
clergy of all denominations participated.
A local paper carried three articles, one
explaining that Nov. 9 was the anni-
versary of Hitler's Beer House Putch of
1923, Kristallnacht of 1938 and the fall
of the Berlin Wall in 1989. The front-
page headline shouted SHALOM, in large
Hebrew letters. Soon after, the synagogue,
the Jewish Museum and the Jewish
Community Center opened, comprising
the first and largest Jewish building com-
plex in post-war Germany.
In 2008, the Jewish Community Center
held a big celebration of Israel's 60th
year of independence. Many political and
religious dignitaries attended. Everyone
from Prime Minnister Angela Merkel
on down wrote messages for the festival

publication. Members came
from many of the 31 German-
Israel Friendship Associations,
most of which were estab-
lished by Christian religious
groups.
Signs across the city
announced Israel Day and a
program of songs, dance and
oratory in the centrally located
Karlsplatz, surrounded by blue
and white balloons, Israeli
flags, and hasbarah tables. Die
Welt published a large maga-
zine section on the history of
Israel in its Sunday edition.
On the 70th anniversary of
Kristallnacht, the city sponsored a read-
ing of victims' names, in 12 locations.
The Munich Symphony Orchestra pre-
miered an oratorio by the Munich-born
composer Paul Ben-Haim. The Deutsche
Museum showed an exhibit of Jewish sci-
entists, and the music school — Hitler's
former headquarters — held a multi-
media show of Jewish musicians and
composers.
On Nov. 9, 2009, the city commemorat-
ed Kristallnacht in the very room of the
Alte Rathaus where it all began in 1938.
On every visit to Munich, I find exhib-
its, usually extensive and detailed, at
museums in Munich giving the history
of the Nazi era in the city and describing

necessary to defend Israel's right to exist.
"It is up to us:' the brochure states on
its last page, "to help disseminate the
facts about Israel — to our nation's lead-
ers, to world governments, to our media
outlets (each one listed on the brochure,)
to all who will listen."
As I thought about the brochure while
watching a movie about the beginning of
Israel, I understood the reality that Israel,
like The Little Traitor, is filled with life
and resilience — and yet the world gives
it little respect.
Filmed in the streets of Jerusalem, the
movie about Israel's independence almost
wasn't made. The American producers
of the film were afraid of violence and,
coincidentally, the 2006 war between Israel
and Lebanon broke out on the third day of

shooting. Yet, as the war continued, so did
the shooting of The Little Traitor.
And when Alfred Molina, who played
the British soldier, spoke the lines,
"Eventually, there will be trouble between
the Arabs and the Jews; it's in the Bible,
the Prophets predict it," the building they
filmed at started to shake as five mili-
tary jets flew overhead on their way to
Lebanon.
As writer/director, Lynn Roth, wrote,
"We were filming a movie about Israel's
right to exist as she fought for her contin-
ued existence. The movie, the reality, the
characters, the history, the news jumbled
together. We saw the war through the
perspective of our movie, and made the
movie through the perspective of the war
around us."

the prewar Jewish community, generally
in German, for Germans.
We have traveled to Munich twice
yearly for seven years, as my husband
teaches patent law in a program run
jointly by George Washington University,
two German universities and the Max
Planck Institute. We attend synagogue on
Shabbat; and we see a community that is
vital, active and even has a Russian youth
choir. (Never mind the story that they
slip a Christmas carol or two into their
holiday concerts.)
The community sponsors Hebrew
classes, largely attended by non-Jews.
The popular Jewish school also has non-
Jewish students whose mothers like the
school hours.
Munich has seen its share of tragedy,
but now we see an ingathering of Jews
and, today, they are welcomed warmly by
both Munich and Bavaria. ❑

Dr. Adelman is a retired pediatric surgeon

living in Southfield, now busy as an artist,

jeweler and silversmith. She is a former presi-

dent of the Wayne County Medical Society and

Michigan State Medical Society, a trustee of

the American Medical Association, editor of

the Detroit Medical News and an AMNews col-

umnist. She and her husband, Martin, a pro-

fessor at the George Washington University

Law School in Washington, travel often to

Germany and other countries.

Little Israel from page 29

Nazi Holocaust:' that Israel withdrawing
to its 1967 borders would have created
peace, that "Israel is the main stumbling
block to achieving a two-state solution:'
and that nuclear Israel is the greatest
threat to peace and stability.
The brochure shows that Israeli poli-
cies are not the cause of worldwide anti-
Semitism, illuminates Jewish history and
Israel's real past and present, address-
ing Arafat, Hamas, the Oslo Accords,
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas,
Goldstone and Iran's quest for nuclear
weapons.
This excellent brochure is available
to print from the Wiesenthal Web site
(www.wiesenthal.com/toptenlies) or can
be ordered by phone at (800) 900-9036.
It is an excellent and invaluable resource

30

June 17 • 2010

iN

Facing war and death are not new for
Israel and litters the history of the Jewish
people. Yet, even in the midst of terror
and fear and death, we pray to God, we
give thanks for our lives, and we keep
praying every single day for peace.
As Jewish mourners throughout the
world pray for their lost loved ones in
the Mourner's Kaddish, they recite, "May
there be abundant peace from Heaven,
and life, upon us and upon all Israel; and
let us say, Amen."
I hope that Jews everywhere will refuse
to be belittled and stand behind Israel.
Who else will fight and pray for this little
country surrounded by enemies? Who
else but us? E

Arnie Goldman is a Farmington Hills resident.