Picking sides

On which side of the fence do you currently fall: Team Inevitability or Team Capriciousness? For the sake of discussion, do this little exercise. Pick an event or moment that you think best represents your position, then argue against it, that is, take the other side of the debate and make--genuinely, not passively--a brief case for why your example provides evidence of your "new" position.

and on a related note...

As you read through the material, one aspect of Jewish communal life becomes clear: there are a LOT of Jewish communal organizations. Do you think the proliferation of different interests groups is a sign of German-Jewish integration, security and acceptance or is it a sign of anxiety about fitting in?

Questioning the Jewish Question

What do you think: is the Jewish Question laid to rest after the unification of Germany under Bismarck (and the total emancipation of all German Jews)? In other words, how much is the "Jewish Question" of the 1930s a totally *other* question and how much is it a continuation of the German-Jewish experience of the "long" 19th century?

on the re-forming of Judaism

As you catch up on the readings, several posts will offer some questions for discussion and reflection. The first: what do you think about the early expressions of liberal Judaism? How do the innovations of the Enlightenment and Romantic German cultural and intellectual influences resonate with your understanding of early American Reform and with contemporary Reform Judaism?

(As a side note, here's the Liberal Jewish Community in Hamburg now.)

Art for art's sake

While we're there:
Frida Kahlo Retrospective at the Martin Gropius Bau along with an exhibit of the incredible work of Olaf Eliasson, the new Topography of Terror exhibit is open (scary name very cool outdoor exhibit), there's a complex exhibit on the May Day riots (May 1st has a long, complex history as a worker's holiday) and there's a very good chance that the Eichmann files will be made available to the public while we're there.

Financial in/stability

How much do you know about what's going on in Greece and its financial instability? Since the EU adopted the Euro as its common currency, there have been all kinds of really interesting turns and twists and none--perhaps--more so than the way in which Greece's massive debt has affected the more fiscally responsible countries who are now responsible for finding a fix. It's bound to be a MAJOR topic while we're in Germany both because of how important a role the German market plays in Europe but also because it seems to play into the historical relationship between Germany and Greece (especially in the 20th century). Carve out a little time to familiarize yourselves with it...

only without the bonfire

See this article about the first Lag B'Omer parade in Berlin!

on Berlin

There's quite a bit to disagree with in this piece on Berlin from Tablet, but it's a worthwhile backdrop against which to have your own experience of the city. Berlin is--above other characteristics--a city of contradictions as this piece from The Forward brings out.

Carnival of Cultures

Prepare yourselves: the Carnival of Cultures will be in Berlin while we're there. Sure to be wild (though not quite as much as the Love Parade might have been).

back at the ranch....

Here's a very quick, up-to-date way to familiarize yourself with current German politics.

Aesthetic Smackdown: the Perfect v. the Sublime

Which appeals to you more: the rationalist, pragmatic approach to universal morality of the late 18th century (think the various Mendelssohns even when they change their names to Bartholdy) or the deeply felt emotional romanticism of the early 1th century? How does Jewish involvement with both (and here, "Jewish" can mean Jews or Judaism or Jews and Judaism) create ambivalence for German thinkers of all creeds? Feel free to approach this question from multiple angles--Jews as a part of German culture, Jews as separate from an emerging sense of Germanism, a mutually construction majority culture, etc. From any direction, it begs some reflection on what is at stake for non-Jewish and Jewish Germans regarding integration and Emancipation.

tea and coffee in the afternoon

The salon movement of the early Romantic period is both heralded (for its boundary-crossing, anti-hierarchy, seemingly liberal mode of creating inter-religious, inter-class, and inter-gender spaces) and reviled (for basically the same reasons). How is the salon both de-valued and over-valued because of its association both with women and with Jews? Do you see (or can you make) references (or echoes) of it in either the rise of Liberal Judaism and in (our) contemporary society?

"the Jew is even more man than Jew...."

In his 1781 treatise "On the Civil Improvement of the Jews" von Dohm adjures the Prussian government both to know the religion of Judaism and to create conditions that help weaken Jewish specificity in favor of promoting a more general (that is, universally available) morality. In suggesting--strongly--that his audience not judge the whole of Jews through the actions of a few, Dohm not only elevates the role/value/significance of the individual but also he signals a reorganization of the ways in which non-Jews and Jews should perceive one another. Instead of knowing one another as communities, Prussians of all creeds show know one another as human beings. Sounds great, right? But the drawbacks are plentiful. What kind of negative repercussions does Dohm's piece invoke (however unwittingly)?

Berlin dining

For those of you not in NY (or those in the city not reading The NY Times) Sunday's paper had a big section on European travel. No promises on whether we'll be eating at any of these places, but it's nice to dream, isn't it? Berlin: High and Low Dining.

Money, money, money

It's not all bad news--look how much further your (student) dollars can go! (It's good we're leaving soon.)