Teaching Team
New Synagogue in Munich
This post comes from Johann Stoll. Johann is an FFOZ constituent and Torah Club Member who lives in Germany.
Munich. Its name is associated with many things: the capital of Bavaria, King Ludwig, Oktoberfest, Hofbräuhaus, Olympics 1972, etc. Basically, Munich calls to mind a lifestyle of “Prosit und Gemütlichkeit,” of live and let live, the world-village with its heart in the right place. Unfortunately it is also remembered as the capital of “The Nazi Movement,” Hitler’s rise to power, Dachau, 1938’s declaration of “Peace in our times,” the murder of Israeli Olympians in 1972, etc. This shadow has engraved itself on the flip side of the “Munich coin” and can be experienced in many ways. To get the whole picture, visitors should not only go to the Hofbräuhaus, the Oktoberfest and the castles in the Alps, but also to nearby Dachau and Hitler’s “Eagle’s Nest” near Austria. After seeing this contrast, one will ask how and why such a beautiful country with its wonderful people could become the breeding place for a life-despising society like the Nazi movement.
Few in the Jewish community in Munich survived the Holocaust and most of the Jewish people in town after the war were dislocated people from all over Europe on their move to either America or Israel. After such devastation, why would a Jew want to live in Munich or Germany anyway? So a post-war visitor would not be too surprised at the absence of any signs of Jewish life, other than Memorial Stones, as he walked around downtown Munich. The average Munich citizen might have some vague ideas about Judaism, feelings of guilt for the Holocaust, and a deep desire to forget what had happened more than 60 years ago.
Since the facilities of the post-war Jewish community were located mostly in backyards, Jewish activities hardly ever showed up downtown. Over the 1990s, more and more Jewish emigrants came through on their way from Russia and decided to stay. So in the past decade or so, Munich’s Jewish population increased to the extent that new facilities were needed. In a cooperative effort, the Munich Jewish Community, the City of Munich along with the Bavarian Government, business companies and many private groups raised funds to provide new facilities for the Jewish community in a central square in downtown Munich.
The site was deliberately chosen on Jakobsplatz, to give room for a synagogue, a Jewish museum and a Jewish Community Center with theater, school, kindergarten and a café. The name of the synagogue is “Ohel Jaakov,” Jakob’s Tent, giving the additional message: “Jakob set up his tent again in downtown Munich.” The New Munich Synagogue opened on November 9th last year (Memorial Day of the “Kristallnacht 1938” and the “Opening of the Berlin Wall 1989”). Jacob’s people are now obviously present in Munich again. Jewish life came out from the backyards and can be noticed by anybody passing by on the nearby Market Square and pedestrian zone.
The big question was how would the Munich population react? After a neo-Nazi bomb plot was uncovered shortly before the groundbreaking ceremony in 2003, some thousand people gathered on the site to demonstrate against right-wing fanatics and to show to the local Jewish community: “We want you here, in this very place, in our midst.” Finally, on the opening Visitors’ Day, the Munich people were lining up for hours from 10:00 am until 6:00 pm. Some 10-15,000 people visited the facilities that day and more Visitors’ Days had to be organized in an effort to satisfy the obvious curiosity and interest of the people of Munich. Boulevard papers printed an informative series of articles on Jewish life, Local TV stations broadcast interviews with representatives, both Jewish and Gentile. People even started to place prayer requests into the gaps of the synagogue exterior walls which are made of Jerusalem stone.
The synagogue building looks like a transparent cube, a steel and glass construction enclosed by a rectangular stone wall, with brass doors shaped like the Tablets of the Commandments. When I go there, I remember the Walls of Jerusalem. Inside, one takes a seat under the glass cube like in a Sukkah, watching the Munich sky turn to dusk and a full moon rise, sending its light upon the audience.
Can you sense something is happening in Munich?
Yes, it is Sukkot, even in Munich, and people are coming to watch.
What are they looking for?
What will they see?
What will they hear?
What will they think,
What will they take from there?
Only time will tell.
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Chag Sukkot Sameach
Crispin | October 1, 2007 1:46 PM
Wow. I'll be searching the web for more pictures.
I lived in Germany from 1984-1986. One day, my husband and I got lost on the way to Dachau and stopped at a gas station to ask directions. The attendant (intentionally, I suspect) sent us the wrong way and we ended up on a cul-de-sac. An old woman dressed in black flagged us down and said simply, "You're looking for the camp," and gave us proper directions.
I recall being in the country less than two days when my husband and I were sitting in a gasthaus chatting with the locals. A man took out his wallet and proudly showed us an old picture of himself in his Nazi uniform. I was too shocked to respond and he just laughed.
Another time, we saw two old woman walking down the sidewalk. One tripped, laughed, and told her companion that she had "tripped on a Jew's nose".
It's a mixed bag over there, to be sure. Many of the younger generation I encountered seemed to be sick of hearing about the Holocaust and being made to feel guilty about it. Mind you, they were not in any way supportive of what the Nazis did, but they did resent the load of guilt they were expected to carry.
One can only hope that a new and positive relationship will develop between the Jews of Munich and their neighbors.
MJ
MJ Belko | October 1, 2007 2:02 PM
Thanks for a wonderful article, very positive. We lost an uncle in Dachau. My brother was in Munich in 1972. Hashem is good to us all. Baruch Hashem!
David Roth | October 9, 2007 5:09 AM
Greetings from Karlsruhe, Germany.
I'm glad to read that there are other people in Germany who are into a Torah observant lifestyle. There are quite a few here in Karlsruhe, but they just speak Russian and / or German only.
Schalom,
ben:)
Benjamin Trautmann | October 10, 2007 5:46 AM