European Rabbis meet in Germany for landmark conference

On the final day of the General Assembly of the Conference of European Rabbis (CER) in Germany, contributors visited the memorial web site of the previous Nazi focus camp in Dachau.

There, Aharon Brodman, the Orthodox rabbi of Munich, spoke about his father and grandfather, who had been victims of the Holocaust. “How symbolic it is that I stand here in Dachau as the grandson of David Brodman, who was murdered in Auschwitz,” he stated.
Dachau was Germany’s first focus camp and was constructed in March 1933, simply weeks after the Nazis got here to energy. There had been greater than 200,000 prisoners right here, together with 50,000 Jews. Some 41,000 misplaced their lives right here.

In a historic first, 300 Orthodox rabbis from 47 international locations met for three days in Munich this week. They got here from throughout Europe, but in addition from additional afield: Morocco, Iran, Mexico, and Colombia. 

Historic assembly at a historic location

This was solely the second General Assembly in Germany, following a gathering with fewer contributors in 2013 in Berlin. This yr, CER President Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt recalled that it was right here in Munich that Hitler’s propaganda minister, Joseph Goebbels, delivered his speech inciting the nationwide pogrom in opposition to Jews that was then euphemistically described because the “night of broken glass” (Kristallnacht) in November 1938.

Neither the German President nor any member of the Federal Cabinet made an look at this yr’s gathering. 

At a time of accelerating antisemitism throughout Europe, the assembly posed a serious problem to safety organizations. Even earlier than the conference started, law enforcement officials patrolled the conference venue, even at evening. During the day, plainclothes safety forces had been continuously strolling up and down contained in the constructing.

When twelve rabbis traveled by bus to Munich’s Olympic Park to commemorate the eleven Israeli athletes who had been murdered by Palestinian terrorists on the 1972 Olympics, they had been accompanied by a number of dozen law enforcement officials.

Germany has seen an increase in the variety of antisemitic assaults, and politicians have begun to take motion to extend authorized and safety measures in current years.

Jewish life in Europe

Against this backdrop, Rabbi Goldschmidt described the blossoming of recent Jewish communities in Germany as a “miracle.” But he additionally warned in opposition to restrictions on non secular freedom in a number of European international locations. He stated that if, for instance, a rustic bans the circumcision of new child boys or ritual slaughter, Jewish life turns into unattainable there and Jews have to depart the nation, he stated.

Daniel Höltgen, the particular consultant on the Council of Europe for antisemitism, anti-Islam, and different types of non secular intolerance and hate crimes addressed the issue of antisemitism amongst Muslims. Religious communities and civil societies, he advised, ought to manage “grassroots encounters” on the native stage that ought to deal with the problem concretely.

One of the youthful rabbis on the Munich gathering was Moshe David HaCohen from Malmo, Sweden. The metropolis has lengthy been infamous for antisemitic incidents and quite a few Jews have moved away. Now the Malmo rabbi describes how he brings teams of Jewish and Muslim youth collectively to advertise understanding.

The battle in opposition to antisemitism was the principle focus of this yr’s discussions, however points of non secular legislation and liturgical preparations are additionally a subject of debate. But this yr, the influence of the Russian aggression in opposition to Ukraine overshadowed the gathering. Many of the rabbis gathering in Munich have kinfolk in Ukraine. Poland’s Chief Rabbi Michael Schudrich, described the drastic fates of Holocaust survivors there.

And the state of affairs of Jews in Russia can also be altering. “A significant part of the Jews have already left the country,” Rabbi Goldschmidt, who serves as chief rabbi of Moscow, instructed Deutsche Welle. “And many more are considering taking that step.” Goldschmidt at the moment lives in Jerusalem.

On the ultimate night of the gathering, all darkish ideas had been pushed apart: The clergy celebrated till nicely after midnight. For hours, the conference corridor was crammed with Hasidic rock music with pious and full of life lyrics. And the rabbis, outdated and younger, danced exuberantly in entrance of the stage. That, too, is Jewish life in 2022.

This article was initially written in German.

While you are right here: Every Tuesday, DW editors spherical up what is occurring in German politics and society. You can join herefor the weekly e-mail publication Berlin Briefing.

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