VERY long ago, (reportedly) "God" promised Abram, "Whoever blesses you I will bless and whoever curses you I will curse, and in you all the Families of The Earth will be blessed ..."
I have a dream. It is for a rebirth of German-Jewish life. Albert Einstein, Thomas Mann, the historian Theodor Mommsen, the painter Max Liebermannsymbolized a unique flowering of the arts, of culture and of the economy. It was about what you did, not what you believed in. Jewish life was destroyed almost completely. When he was liberated from a concentration camp after the Shoah, Rabbi Leo Baeck declared the history of German Jewry to be over. Like most other survivors he left Germany.
Today, the world's fastest growing Jewish community is in Germany. We have Jewishartists living here, writers and business people. Berliners have opened their hearts to Daniel Barenboim and to the director of the Jewish Museum, the former US Secretary of the Treasury Michael Blumenthal. The German capital is a favorite destination for Israeli and Jewish tourists.People here follow closely all that concerns Jewish life and interests. Nonetheless, the Jewish community in Germany is a shadow of its former self. The architecture illustrates the vulnerability.
Daniel Libeskind designed the Jewish Museum in Berlin to symbolize a broken Star of David. The concrete building gives the impression of beingimpenetrable; I think it should have been made of glass, transparent and inviting.
The Jewish Voice from Germany is intended as a bridge; it will connect Jews with Gentiles, Germany with the world. We want to communicate the long history that Jews and Germans share with each other. Our paper intends to make the dream of a new togetherness a reality. And we will keep an eye on the Diaspora and Israel. We invite all of good will to contribute to that goal. We welcome critical and constructive suggestions.
Despite his best efforts to destroy the Jewish faith in Germany and elsewhere, Hitler failed to do so. Hate in the end does not succeed in it's aims. I am thrilled to discover that there is a renewal of Jewish life in Germany and hope it continues to thrive.
i find it curious that the very same G_d who is recorded as saying "The Earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof" would attempt to limit His grace and blessings to JUST Israel(Jewish or no), in the apparent opinion of some.
Warmest regards-
Hatman
"History records that the moneychangers have used every form of abuse, deceit, intrigue, and violent means possible to maintain their control over governments by controlling money and it's issuance." -- James Madison(1751-1836), Father of the Constitution for the USA, 4th US President
I quite DIS-agree with his Anti-Religious and Anti-Muslim Opinions, but I do believe he is EXACTLY *Spot*On* about the vile Character of ongoing Anti-Jewish Anti-Israel Anti-Zionist NONSENSE ...
Here is a video by an Englishman, Pat Condell...Church of England member I believe... addressing the plight, if you will, of Jews in Europe and in general around the world.
Jewish life will never be really Jewish outside the Holy Land. Every place in חוץ לארץ (outside the Holy Land) is a temporary dwelling, from Babylon to Brooklyn to Bavaria.
Well, I wish them well, and it could be nice to have a convenient shul when and if I decide to visit Berlin.
OK. Thanks for sharing your ideas of "Jewish life".
Jewish life will never be really Jewish outside the Holy Land. Every place in חוץ לארץ (outside the Holy Land) is a temporary dwelling, from Babylon to Brooklyn to Bavaria.
Well, I wish them well, and it could be nice to have a convenient shul when and if I decide to visit Berlin.
Part of me agrees with you and part of me doesn't. Yes, I do agree that it's easier to keep the Law in Israel, plus there's an overall atmosphere there, especially in Jerusalem, that I just love. However, in today's day and age, I think having all Jews in one location may not be the best.
One of my friends here in the States was former IDF, and he shares my fear, especially if Iran gets nukes. Even though he goes there at least once a year, he says that he can see a time where he would not be willing to take his family there, and that time may only be a few short years away. One of his friends, who is career IDF and in the intelligence area (not Mossad though), is convinced that with the mindset of the ruling Shi'i imams, that if Iran does develop nukes, they will use them against Israel.
I was sponsored by the Holocaust Memorial Museum of Metropolitan Detroit to study the Holocaust in Poland and Israel back in 1991, and I still talk with those who visit those two places and Germany on a regular basis, and several have told me that Germany is probably one of the best places to be if you're Jewish because of the determination of the Germans to make certain that what happened not get repeated. I was hoping eventually to make it to Germany to continue with my studies, but that hasn't happened, and I'm afraid it probably won't largely because my wife has a rather serious heart condition.
Jewish life will never be really Jewish outside the Holy Land. Every place in חוץ לארץ (outside the Holy Land) is a temporary dwelling, from Babylon to Brooklyn to Bavaria.
Well, I wish them well, and it could be nice to have a convenient shul when and if I decide to visit Berlin.
Jewish life is wherever Jews make it. Not where a bunch of people who are stuck in the Bronze Age say it has to be.
I was trying to think of an appropriate response to his remark, but you did it perfectly. :)
A tyrant must put on the appearance of uncommon devotion to religion. Subjects are less apprehensive of illegal treatment from a ruler whom they consider god-fearing and pious. On the other hand, they do less easily move against him, believing that he has the gods on his side. Aristotle Never discourage anyone...who continually makes progress, no matter how slow. Plato.. "A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives" Jackie Robinson
