Yom Yerushalaim in Jerusalem

"There is no better place to celebrate Yom Yerushalaim than Jerusalem", my friend from Tel Aviv told me, a sound of jealousy in her voice. Indeed, I was wondering myself of my luck, of finally being in Jerusalem on this occasion. With a limited time and not in the mood to follow the official celebrations path - concerts and public gatherings in various parks, I decided to just go out in the central area and watch the people.

From noon on, groups of young people with Israeli flags started to enter the city, mostly from Gush Etzion and Shomron, singing and dancing in the street. The spirit of joy from the 28 Iyar in 1967 when after thousands of years, the holy city of Jerusalem was united again was in the air.

For some religious communities, Yom Yerushalaim is considered even more important than the Yom HaAtzmaut, with the Hallel prayer recited and day-long celebrations organised. This year, despite the heat, the joy embraced the streets and the groups of youngsters were joined by stand-byers of all ages and degree of religious observance. Such moments show the unity despite the many differences. Indeed, I was very lucky to spend this very special day in the very special city.  

Jewish histories BerIin: Kleine Synagoge in Auguststraße

A drawing on a wall covered at the bottom with chaotic graffiti, this is all what's left from once used to be the Kleine Synagoge in the central area - Mitte - of Berlin, on Auguststraße 10. The synagogue Ahawas Shalom und Mogen David was inaugurated in 1906, aimed to serve 500 members. In this area in Mitte used to live many middle class Jews. 

The synagogue was destroyed during the Kristalnacht in 1938. At the memorial place, besides a detailed plan, a picture during a Simcha Torah celebration is displayed. The remains of the synagoge were used for other construction work so nothing was left from it.

The inclusion of the Kleine Synagoge in Auguststraße 10 in the circuit of Jewish memorial places is relatively recent, as it took place only ten years ago. In the middle of the 1980s, here was a kindergarden. 

Jewish histories in Lutherstadt. And something about Luther

When it comes to the relationship between Luther and the Jews, there is always something left or just obliterated. The next year, 500 years of Reformation will be celebrated across Germany, an opportunity to reconsider and outline his not-so friendly opinions regarding the Jews. During his life, he was in favour of a strong missionarism among Jews, hoping that the lights of Reformation are exactly the ingredient for a mass conversion. For instance, he writes that he was disappointed that Jewd did not convert in big numbers during his life, but he still nurtures the hope they will do it,. 

Many of his writing are openly hostile, and were intensively used by the Nazis to get more support among the population and as propaganda materials as such. As the city of Lutherstadt was part of the communist Germany, a serious coming at terms with the anti-Semitic texts of the founder of Reformation was not done, and religious reasons prevail in not doing so completely nowadays. However, among academics and some theologians, critical approaches were done, especially in the last decades - more about that in a next post, I hope.

Nowadays, there is a 'Jüdenstrasse' written in Gottish, situated close to the old city, but not a significant number of Jews left. The Jewish presence was officially recognized here in 1814, after the Napoleonic wars, when Friedrich Wilhelm the IInd allowed 120 Jewish families to establish here.

From 2008, Initiative Stolpersteine succeeded to install a couple of memory marks in the city, commemorating the Jews murdered during Shoah. 

A world without Elie Wiesel...

Source: wsj.com

A world without Elie Wiesel is more insecure, because with his death, this world lost one of his voices of conscience. He dedicated his whole life to remind the world how fine is the line between humanity and raw monstrosity. It is a sad moment whose best answer is to never forget to remember and fight against indifference. 

Many years ago, I visited his hometown Sziget and the memorial house, in a city left without Jews, only with memories and a long history of anti-Semitism. Without him, the recognition of Shoah in Romania would have been impossible, and his efforts for finally revealing the truth were often welcomed there with agressive attacks and raw anti-Semitism. But he succeeded to bring testimonies to life, but in the end, he decided not to return to his Sziget any more, following the decision of the Romanian authorities to support a fierce anti-Semitic politician. 

His speech on the occasion of the Nobel Peace Prize awarding, about the dangers of indifference, is one of the many testimonies left for the rest of us.

He gave us the example of survival and a life for truth. We have the obligation to never forget and never give up the fight for truth.

May his memory be a blessing.

BDE 

Survive to tell the story: Fragments of Isabella

Shoah memoirs do not have to be extended on too many pages. Sometimes, the scarcity of words covers in fact a complex story of pain and resilience. This Auschwitz memoir is a moving account of the story of the then 22-year old Isabella Katz, from Hungary, whose fate was sealed in August 1944, when Hungarian Nazis decided the deportation of Jews. 

The book is an account of disparate memories, from short fragments from the life in then Hungary - 'the land of hate we were born' - , until the wandering to various concentration camps, including Auschwitz. The text might look a staccato of not always chronologically-set stories, but in the literature of Shoah survivors, such literary formula is quite common. The flux of memory is very often obstructed by the impossibility of sharing the full truth, as it really was. 

Memories of the permanent camp terror will never leave the survivors and change completely the perception of things. Personal moments associated with various persecutions and trauma are never the same. In Isabella's case, her birthday ceased to be a moment of celebration, but an event to be forgotten.

'Germany was one grant concentration camp, with Jews marching the length and breath of the country, but these refined, sensitive Germans never saw us'. 

Surviving is a commitment to make a difference, to show to the oppressor that despite of all the pain and humiliation and the crimes, the good prevails. 'We are pure and beautiful. We have nothing in common with them. They are Germans'. 

Revelatory of this state of mind is, in my opinion, the account of the episodes of Isabella's meeting with Germans during her post-war trips to Europe. Fear and disgust and anger for those who, maybe, were among the opressors. 

This book is not only a memoir to be read by anyone interested in WWII and Shoah history, but equally can be used as a school material for contemporary history lessons. 

Disclaimer: Book offered by the publisher via NetGalley.com

At the death of a kosher store

Situated in the Western side of Berlin, Schalom used to be one of the oldest kosher store in the city, created after the war as a family business. I discovered it on Sybelstrasse, close to Adenauerstrasse metro station, shortly after moving in the city, and for a long time it was my only source of kosher food. There were not too many at the time, with another one, bigger, but much expensier, close to the KaDeWe, closed one year ago because of the debts accumulated. 

Schalom was small, with very few products, but it had meat, which was a high commodity at the time. For Pesach, they used to have some gorgeous crunchy French matza that made me come back year after year, although I was already won over by other kosher options. It also used to be a source of information for various Jewish things going on in the city. I omitted to mention 'reliable' on purpose, because as the financial situation of the store was getting a bit worse, the information offered generously to the visitor was sometimes too much and not always friendly.

The other kosher options created, especially in the close neighbourhood, were killing the store. Bigger variety, better prices, neutral service, more space...The customers were more or less the same everywhere, but they were becoming people more interested in having at least once the week a full kosher meal as they had in Israel or America. When the overall prices of food are so cheap in Berlin, to convince non-religious people to buy kosher and thus, twice the usual price, needs a lot of persuasion. And even the religious families will prefer to save some money buying from a more convenient store, guaranteed that the kosher conditions are meet. Nowadays, you can find meat  with different hechshers accomodating various religious options and although Berlin is far way from the kosher richness of England it is much easier to survive Pesach or to prepare a fine family kosher dinner.

Meanwhile, Schalom store was sold shortly after Pesach, the space being probably used for an art gallery. It is over now, and a chapter is closed. This is the way of things. 

Those fine chains of sand that bind us

I finished reading this book in one long night, but took me some more weeks until all the impressions and ideas started to get together, less emotional and more clearly. 

Written from the perspective of British, sometimes too liberal, Jew - see the discussions about Israel and the religious compromise in a mixed family - it explores the identity stories of young Jews and Israeli, during the last war in Israel. If for an Israeli born and breed like Udi, being Jewish and Israeli is an identity to carry on with, for the successful banker Daniel from London, making aliya and eventually going to the Army is the confirmation of an identity that cannot fully develop outside Israel. For Daniel, taking part to a pro-Israeli manifestation in support of the three yeshiva kids kidnapped by Hamas, although confronting animosity and anti-Semitism, was this way to show his support. For Udi, in a British hospital after surviving a terrible car accident, facing the animosity of some of the nurses, was a part of life. 'But he knows that there will be always be those who hate Israel, and most of the staff are friendly and welcoming and blessing-sent'. And there is also Daniel's mysterious artist girlfriend.

There are a lot of discussions and cruel social realities, about Israel and the everyday tensions and the need to break free of all the drums of war, in a quiet sanitized European city. But somehow, those fine chains of sands are bringing us together or around the same (Pesach) table, everyone with its own truth. 

The book is well written and keeps you awake and curious to find out the rest of the story. The characters have depth and the tensions between idetities and love stories make it a captivating story. It is a book that makes you think a lot about your own identity, sometimes in a provocative, not always convenient, way.

There is an inaccuracy in the book, as the Iraqi Jews do not speak Farsi, but an Arabic dialect. I did find the choice for using 'yamaka' instead of kippa a bit awkward. 

Disclaimer: Book offered by the publisher via NetGalley.com