If you have been at the Memorial Site on Michelsberg in Wiesbaden on 10 Nov 2020, then you have been able to see half a Star of David, formed by empty shoes.
On 10 Nov 2020 at 0530h – the point in time when the Synagogue on the Michelsberg has been ablaze 82 years ago – we held a vigil to remember the destruction of the Reform Synagogue at the memorial site and to also remember all the Jews that have been murdered during the Shoah in a wreath ceremony.
We stood between the empty shoes to show that the murdered Jewish citizens are no longer here but that they are living on in our hearts, stand on our side in our thoughts and that the manifold Jewish life in Germany has been resurrected. Progressive Judaism is visible again in Wiesbaden.
Our message to the City of Wiesbaden is this: We, the progressive Jews of this city, are back!
We all must not forget the past, but we may not only look back into the sorrowful past but also have to direct our gaze into the future!
Until 09 Nov 1938 at this place, the Reform Synagogue of Wiesbaden had been located, which had been built by the Progressive Jews of this city and was dedicated on 13 Aug 1869. The members of this congregation worked towards adapting the historic religious rituals and rules to the present time and to liberalize and democratize all aspects of Jewish life.
The former Rabbi of this community, Abraham Geiger, was one of the founders of Progressive Judaism as we know it around the world today.
On 10 November 2020 at 0530h – the moment, at which the building was ablaze – we will at the Michelsberg Memorial Site hold a vigil and commemoration event on the occasion of the destruction of the Reform Synagogue 82 years ago.
Destruction of the Reform Synagogue on 10 Nov 1938
Of course all the currently required and due to the circumstances appropriate social distancing and hygiene regulations will be observed.
A challenging year 2020 also for our members and us will draw to a close soon, but we do have some good news that are worthy of a short update:
We are officially a registered association (“eingetragener Verein” or e.V.) now and we already have a provisional recognition of our charitable status from the tax authority.
If you do have any questions about our aims, purports or if you are interested in becoming a member, feel free to contact us!
Dear reader, if you have been visiting our site earlier already: Our article about Yom Kippur was part of the New Year Seder article before, which lead to some misunderstandings, so we now split it in two.
Of course we celebrated Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement in a modern way but in accordance with Jewish traditions. We met in the digital space and that way we have been close despite the physical distance. Also on that day, Batja joined us.
Yom Kippur is a day of fast on which many jews don’t eat for 25 hours – if that does not endanger their health, as health always is more important than these rites and rules.
15 days after the Jewish New Year Rosh Hashanah and 5 days after Yom Kippur is the beginning of Sukkot (Festival of Shelters). It reminds us of the exodus of our ancestors from Egypt, the long trek through the desert, the sleepovers in makeshift huts.
To symbolise the fugacity of material wealth, Jews build huts under the open sky, wherever there is room for it: In the garden, in the backyard, on the balcony or the terrace.
Notable: Through the roof of the hut (Sukkah) it should be possible to see the stars. In Israel and in other warm countries the Sukkah is the family home for one week for many Jewish families. In colder areas, families meet on the Sukkot days for dinner. Every guest is welcome in the Sukkah as it says in Deuteronomy: “You shall rejoice in your festival, with your son and daughter, […] the stranger […] in your communities”.
An additional symbol for the festival is the bouquet. It is made of a branch from the date palm, three myrtle and two basket willow branches as well as a citrus fruit, the Etrog. The reason for combining these four plants very likely is the diversity they represent. In the bouquet, those plants are unified. They symbolise the unity of the Jewish people and the mutual responsibility of human beings for each other.
These two symbols of Sukkot are very modern for our Progressive Jewish Congregation Michelsberg.
Dear reader, if you have been visiting our site earlier already: This article in a past version also contained our Yom Kippur experience, which lead to some misunderstandings, so we now split it in two.
The 10 days between the Jewish New Year Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, the highest of the Jewish holidays, are called the 10 Days of Repentance. During these days there is a common rite: Tashlikh (in Hebrew “throw”).
All the negatives are symbolically thrown into flowing water. This starts a spiritual renewal. According to Rabbi Leo Trepp this custom was developed in the Rheinland area (probably around Mainz) and then it was taken over by Jews around the world.
With our Tashlikh on the banks of the Rhine in Biebrich we wanted to remind ourselves and the City of Wiesbaden that Jewish life is existing in Germany since nearly 1700 years, having had an important impact on the development of Judaism around the world. Last not least, Germany is the cradle of Progressive Judaism.
Since the wonderful Reform Synagogue on the Michelsberg is no longer standing, we are constantly looking for a place to meet. Nonetheless, we want to welcome all those who are interested.
We would love to fill in citizens from Wiesbaden, classes as well as religious and other groups about Progressive Judaism, the main differences between the various Jewish movements, Jewish diversity and different possibilities to be Jewish today.
Through the rebirth of the Jewish Congregation at Michelsberg, Progressive Judaism is visible again in Wiesbaden – and we have celebrated our first Jewish New Year with a lot of political support!
Our congregation is member of the World Union of Progressive Judaism, the biggest Jewish movement in the world with 1.8 million members in over 50 countries right now.
We have decided to celebrate Rosh Hashanah outdoors in the Taunus mountains to allow meeting social distancing rules and to not endanger each other in a closed room. The municipality of Hohenstein has supported us very much during the organisation. Even the mayor of the Town of Hohenstein, Daniel Bauer, has been marking the holiday together with us. Also, we are very thankful that the Local Health Authority in Bad Schwalbach has helped us with many tips during the creation of the hygiene and infection protection concept.
The Jewish Congregation Michelsberg has been celebrating the Jewish New Year Rosh Hashanah with a festive community dinner. With the festivities having been shaped by Rabbi Dr Walter Rothschild, 75 members of the congregation and guests have been celebrating the beginning of the Jewish year 5781.
Many political guests, like the former mayor of the City of Wiesbaden, Achim Exner and the Members of the Bundestag Martin Rabanus and Klaus-Peter Wilsch have welcomed the rebirth of our Progressive Jewish Congregation in the region with impressive and warm addresses. The private conversations with the various politicians during the evening gave us hope that the Progressive Jews of the City of Wiesbaden and in the region will be given space and political support to live Jewish traditions according to progressive views and to further pursue the achievements of the Progressive Jews that have been living in Wiesbaden before 1938. Even if the Reform Synagogue at Michelsberg is no longer existing, the Progressive Jews of the city are back.
On each table there was a copy of the official letter of the Israeli Diaspora Minister Omer Yankelevich that was addressed to our congregation and in which he was wishing us Shanah Tova (a Happy New Year) in the name of the State of Israel, as well as thanking us for the continued presence of our community in Germany. When reading this letter, some of our more senior members could hardly hold back their tears. Being survivors of the Shoah, they came to Germany very intentionally to ensure that there will be a diverse Jewish live in this country again and also to carry on the traditions of progressive Judaism.
We have been very happy that we also had non-Jewish guests celebrating with us. The more open we are, the more we know about each other, the more frequently we celebrate together, the less prejudices there are and the less chances antisemitism has in this country.
The past year has been especially important for our congregation. Approximately one year ago, on the 150th anniversary of the dedication of the Reform Synagogue at Michelsberg in Wiesbaden, we had decided to rebuild an additional Jewish Congregation in Wiesbaden – a Progressive Jewish Congregation Michelsberg. This was necessary because the existing Jewish Congregation in Friedrichstrasse caters exclusively for the Jewish-Orthodox perspective and it’s rites and traditions. We found it regrettable that in the city where Abraham Geiger was Rabbi, Progressive Judaism was practically invisible since the time of the Shoah. Abraham Geiger was one of the first and foremost representatives of Reform Judaism in Germany. His name is carried by the first Rabbinical College having been founded in Germany after the Shoah.
Therefore, with the rebirth of our Progressive Jewish Congregation we want to tie in with the progressive tradition of the prewar times and again share our modern Jewish life with the city. With the Jewish High Holidays, we have made a good start.
To celebrate the High Jewish Holidays during times of COVID-19, we had to be imaginative.
Of course health is of supreme importance for our congregation. Nonetheless we wanted to celebrate the important Jewish holidays Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur together as far as possible – and also to remind the City of Wiesbaden and our region, which in the past have been home to many progressive Jews, of these holidays. Therefore we have worked out a very safe hygiene and infection protection concept for these days.
We have decided to commemorate Rosh Hashanah outdoors in the Taunus mountains, this allowing us to comply with the social distancing rules and not endangering each other in a closed room. The Municipality of Hohenstein has extensively supported us during the organisation phase.
Our most important guest this evening came from Israel. Batja Schutz (née Berti Bukspan) was born 1929 in Frankfurt (Main) and has been deported by the Nazis in 1938 directly from her Frankfurt primary school to the Polish border. From there, she together with her family fled to Israel. Batja and her family became members of a Progressive Jewish Congregation in Israel. For the first time in 82 years, Batja has celebrated Rosh Hashanah in a Jewish Congregation in Germany. Batja’s story has deeply moved all of us. We are very honoured that she confided in us and marked this event together with us.
Batja has been our most important guest
Rabbi Dr Rothschild made short Havdalah (a ceremony at the end of Shabbat) and then blessed bread and wine. The bread made for the Jewish New Year is not longish like during the rest of the year, instead it is custom to use round white bread to symbolise the cycle of the year. Additionally, all guests had apples and honey as well as pomegranates at their places, the traditional symbols for a sweet and fruitful new year.
The young and very talented violinist Alina Gelfond, who is a member of our congregation, played very soulfully Jewish songs. Seeing her in front of the painting of our reform synagogue on Michelsberg, which has been created by our sustaining member, the artist Anna Conrad from Wiesbaden, and listening to the moving music has brought tears into the eyes of many senior members of our congregation. These have been tears of remembrance, but also of joy that progressive Judaism in this region again experiences happy times.
The highlight of the evening has been the cabaret program of Rabbi Rothschild, in which he spoke and sang about his life as a Jew in England and as a Rabbi in Germany. There was a whole lot of laughter. Even though we always had to remember the COVID-19 danger and appropriate social distancing, we all had much fun together and enjoyed the party.
That has been one of the most important aims of our Progressive Jewish Congregation: To celebrate our holidays and traditions joyfully and openly, to laugh about ourselves and the world (something that is very Jewish), to create good times and to move away from being the victim. This is the biggest victory over time, to restart where unfortunately it ended in 1933. We Jews don’t use the term “Holocaust” (meaning “completely burned” in translation), instead we call this time Shoah (translated as “catastrophe”). Yes, it has been a catastrophe made by humans, but we are back! Until today we beweep our family members that have been murdered back then, but we also can laugh again (for them and in their name, too).
We live in Germany and this is good. Our children are German Jews. It is a huge success what this country and us Jews, who have returned to Germany full of confidence, have accomplished together. We are very positive about the future! We enjoy celebrating our holidays with all who are interested in joining in!
One of our guests has sent us the following feedback about the event: “On this evening, for the first time I could get an idea of the atmosphere of how a Jewish community celebrates a festive day. I had not experienced that before. This is the family spirit that I never got to know personally myself.”
In May 2020 large ceremonies on the occasion of the 75 anniversary of the end of the war had been planned. Unfortunately, the Covid-19 risks prevented this.
Dates like that one do not only give us reason for celebration. We mourn our family members that lost their lifes during the times of the Shoah. We mourn the former, murdered members of the Jewish Congregation of Michelsberg whose name we intentionally continue to carry and whose progressive views we continue to live. We mourn all Jews from Wiesbaden who have been humiliated, deported and killed. We mourn the 6 million Jews who have been annihilated during the Shoah. We mourn all the 27 million human beings who have fallen victim to the Second World War.
For remembering all the victims of Nazi terror, our congregation has organized a wreath laying ceremony at the Michelsberg Memorial.
It was a moving function:
The music from “Schindler’s List” can be heard. The oldest members of our congregation, including Holocaust survivors, are walking alongside the wreath. Their children and their grandchildren are lighting the candles and are laying down the roses.
The wreath is carried by those members of the congregation that have not been allowed to become members of the Jewish congregation in Friedrichstrasse in Wiesbaden as they don’t have a Jewish mother. Those Jews having “only” a Jewish father are not seen as being Jewish in the eyes of Orthodox Judaism.
The “Father Jews” are laying down the wreath in the name of all members of our Jewish congregation, symbolizing that the charter of the World Union for Progressive Judaism is now also implemented in Wiesbaden since in our midst also Jews “only” having a Jewish father are fully recognized.
It is a sign that Progressive Judaism is reborn in Wiesbaden.
But it is also our message to the Jewish congregation in Friedrichstrasse: We share a common history and culture, independently of whether we have a Jewish father or a Jewish mother. Let us stand together.
It is our remembrance of the city of Wiesbaden: The largest Jewish congregation in Wiesbaden before the Shoah had built the Reform Synagogue on the Michelsberg. It has been destroyed, but we, the Progressive Jews of Wiesbaden, are back! We want to make Progressive Judaism in Wiesbaden visible again and need the support from all in the city.
It is our plea to all Jews living in Germany: Germany is the cradle of Progressive Judaism. The large majority of German Jews before the Shoah have been Progressive Jews who have advocated for rebuilding Jewish religion to be fit for contemporary times, for democracy and gender equality and who have achieved a lot. They have been annihilated and their Reform Synagogues have been torn down, but we are dutybound to not forget their traditions, the traditions of Progressive Judaism, but instead carry them on into the future.
…The minute’s silence has moved everyone…
Nonetheless, we are looking into the future with great hope.
Due to the situation of the last few months, we publish this news item somewhat late: On 20 Feb 2020, the oldest member of our congregation, Leo Schwarzbaum, turned 99 years old.
Alina played Jewish tunes to honour our birthday child
The Torah from which was read during the first memorial service of our congregation on 27 Jan 2020 at Michelsberg, has been provided to us by Mr Schwarzbaum. It is his Torah that has accompanied him on his Bar Mizvah. It also is the Torah that knew the happy times before the Shoah, like her owner.
Leo Schwarzbaum showed pictures from his family album
The oldest Auschwitz survivor has received two gifts from our congregation for his birthday that both have dearly moved him. Our board members Bronislawa Gelfond and Larissa Deichmann as well as our director, Andreas Kimmel, presented the picture of our synagogue on the Michelsberg that has been drawn only for him by Anna Conrad.
Mr Schwarzbaum was presented a drawing of the former synagogue on the Michelsberg
It is the symbol of our reborn Progressive Jewish Congregation Wiesbaden. When one of our youngest members, the very talented violinist Alina Gelfond, played Jewish songs for Mr Schwarzbaum, one could see tears in his eyes. He then told us that at that moment he had remembered his childhood and his family.
Many of the accounts of Auschwitz were only barely endurable (please excuse the bad audio quality)
She would never forget many of the photos from the family album and all the endlessly moving memories of Mr Schwarzbaum, Alina said after the 3 hour long visit.
The discussions also circled around the future of Judaism in Germany
The history of our community continues and connects to the narratives of our members.
We are enthusiastic about the attention our official formation has drawn early this year – the first formation of a Reconstructionist congregation in Germany!
Julia Kleiner has written in the Wiesbadener Kurier under the headline “Weitere jüdische Gemeinde in Wiesbaden gegründet”:
In Wiesbaden hat sich eine weitere jüdische Gemeinde gegründet, die progressive jüdische Gemeinde.
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