Opinion

A MIX OF IDEAS

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Dry Bones

Editorial

Germany's Foreboding Mark

B

y most

accounts, Germany's chan-
cellor is supportive of the State
of Israel and the German Jewish
community. Jewish leaders around the
Deutschland have found Angela Merkel to
be friendly and engaging.
At an October meeting with 600 mem-
bers of the Berlin Jewish community, it
was no surprise to hear her praise the suc-
cessful integration of former Soviet Jews
into the country still scarred by its Nazi
past.
Thanks to the Russian influx, Germany
is the only European country with a
growing Jewish population since 2000.
About 90 percent of its 240,000 residents
of Jewish descent came from the former
Soviet Union since German unification in
1990.
Still, like elsewhere in Europe, Germany
is undergoing a resurgent, troubling brand
of anti-Semitism forebodingly often dis-
guised as anti-Zionism or anti-Israelism.
Merkel and her recent predecessors
have stood with Israel during some tough
political times. But the German govern-
ment as a whole must make it their busi-
ness to subdue the anti-Jewish sentiment
metastasizing in its midst. This year has
spawned arson attacks on synagogues
throughout Germany.
Part of the anti-Semitic fervor stems
from Jewish hatred among older Nazi
sympathizers and younger neo-Nazis.
Germany's 4 million Muslims are a breed-
ing ground for hate given that many,
before emigrating, were brainwashed to
believe Jews were vile. Becoming educated

MR. HISTORY

BUT NOW,
MTN NOBODY
(L
I ‘41 CHARGE,

91 Jews were
murdered.
The pogrom
raised the bar
— and stakes
— in perse-
cuting Jews in
Germany.
German
pro-Israel ral-
lies underscore
the freedom
that German
Jews now enjoy.
On Oct. 31,
Christians and
Jews, 1,000
strong, stood
together in
Frankfurt in
support of
Israel — with
no nega-
tive state sanctions. Further illustrating
Germany's outreach to Jews, the Interior
Ministry is considering ways to fund an
Orthodox rabbinical school like it does a
Reform seminary.
German Jews numbered 500,000 in
the early 1930s and held important,
respected positions in society. By the time
World War II broke out, that number had
dwindled to less than half. Most Jews who
didn't emigrate following Kristallnacht
died in the Holocaust. A once-thriving
Jewish community — buoyed by Moses
Mendelssohn's 18th-century translation
of the Torah into German, which allowed

Jews to learn German and participate in
German life while sustaining their Jewish
heritage — was no more.
Today, about 50 pulpit rabbis serve 100
Jewish communities in Germany, signal-
ing the spurt in the country's Jewish
population.
The chancellor's insistence on a strong
German Jewish community notwithstand-
ing, the German government, including
the Bundestag, must become more vigi-
lant against the winds of anti-Semitism
bearing down on the pillars of democracy,
pluralism and tolerance standing (shak-
ily) in the streets of Berlin. El

edition than the one given to
school. Each seventh- and
all students), the Koren Siddur
eighth-grader is still issued a
(Orthodox), Rinat Yisrael
Siddur Sim Shalom for basic
(Israeli Orthodox), Sephardic
use in order to facilitate pray-
siddurim, an Israeli children's
ing, study and discussion. A
siddur, a women's siddur com-
common siddur helps unify us
mentary and more.
when unity is necessary. But as
As soon as these books
a community Jewish day school,
appeared, the students began
we wish to show students the
trying them out — expanding
vast diversity of Jewish prayer
their horizons, comparing and
and we want them to experi-
Rabbi
contrasting, becoming aware
ence and understand the dif-
Jonathan
of how various Jews pray. "Why
ferent ways Jews talk to God. To
Berger
is this word different?""Why is
that end, we have purchased a
Community
that prayer left out?" Questions
collection of siddurim.
View
like
these have initiated great
So now, on our shelves,
discussions.
you can see Mishkan
But regarding the Braille siddur, I con-
Tefillah (Reform), Kol Haneshamah
fess
that my expectations were low. When
(Reconstructionist), Siddur Sim Shalom
ordering
it, I hoped that our students
for Weekdays (Conservative, but a different

would realize that (1) there are Jews who
are blind; (2) being blind doesn't have to
keep you from praying; (3) Jewish com-
munities need to think about how to
accommodate all kinds of needs in order
to be truly inclusive.
I never imagined that more meaning -
would emerge from its pages — but I
should have, because the student who
thought he would just sit and stroke the
Braille siddur instead got hit by a question
so powerful it changed my understanding
of why we had these diverse books on our
shelves.
Moments later, we were reciting the
Shema and he froze. He beckoned to me;
his forehead was taut with curiosity, his
eyes afire. "Rabbi, Rabbi, I just thought of
a question. Do blind people cover their
eyes for the Shema?"

and acculturated in a Western society
remain serious problems for Germany's
Muslim community.
In July, the German parliament fanned
anti-Semitic flames when it unanimously
passed a motion criticizing Israel's naval
blockade of the Gaza Strip and its May 31
interception of a Gaza-bound flotilla.
Chancellor Merkel and other German
politicians have tried to repair the dam-
age from that unprecedented condemna-
tion. They have called attacks on Jews or
Jewish institutions attacks on democracy
— intolerant of German values and anti-
thetical to peaceful coexistence.
Their concern has been timely given
the new study that reveals Germany's
Foreign Ministry was deeply involved in
strategizing the Holocaust and later cov-
ering up for Nazi officials. Independent
historians conducted the Foreign
Ministry-commissioned study. Findings
erase the perception that the Foreign
Ministry somehow resisted Hitler's Final
Solution.
To its credit, the ministry has pledged
to fold the study into diplomat train-
ing. The American Jewish Committee's
Berlin office pitched a wonderful idea:
Incorporate the findings into school
coursework so German students know
the real role of one of Germany's most
revered ministries.
The anniversary of Kristallnacht, the
Night of Broken Glass, is always a harsh
reminder of Germany's Nazi past. On Nov.
9-10, 1938, Nazi henchmen destroyed
Jewish property and synagogues. At least

DryBonesBlog.corn

What Books Are Those?

0

f all the books on the shelf, why
did you choose that one?" I want-
ed to ask the student. After all, he
had chosen the heaviest, bulkiest siddur.
Furthermore, I was almost positive he
couldn't read a word of it! But instead of
asking the question out loud, I shot him a
quizzical look — and he understood what
I was asking. "It just feels nice, rabbi:' he
said and closed his eyes while continuing
to stroke the siddur.
The siddur in question, you should
know, is about 12 inches tall, 13 inches
wide and four inches thick. It is printed on
thick white cardstock. In Braille.
Why do we have a Braille siddur in our
chapel? This volume, and other diverse
siddurim that sit on the same shelves,
is part of a larger effort to explore what
it means to be a community Jewish day

Books on page 34

November 25 • 2010

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