"What's Up With the Jews?"

Hard not to post this new piece from Stanley Fish in The NYTimes:

"So which is it? Jews are a success story, or Jews are a plague? Don’t mess with Jews, or blame Jews for everything in sight the moment you get drunk? Jews are victims (expulsions, pogroms, the Holocaust), or Jews are victimizers (rapacious bankers, shyster lawyers, land-grabbers and ethnic cleansers)? Jews are devils and sub-human vermin (a Nazi trope), or Jews are God’s chosen people?"

Who Owns History? And Who's Responsible For It?

In today's discussion, the first of many over the next two weeks, we got stuck on the notion of who bears what kind of obligation both to tell and to retell the story of the German Jewish experience of the last 1500 years. Who is the audience for such a narrative and which venue--highly symbolic like the Jewish Museum or intentionally abstract like Eisenmann's Memorial--is the most affective?

(Will it surprise anyone to know that opinions varied greatly?)

Has It Really Only Been Two Days?

Blessed with fantastic weather, the group divided our first full day into three major activities: a bus tour through East and West Berlin (thanks Angelika!), a deeply impressive visit to the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe (and the highly affective exhibit underground the memorial), and a (nearly) overwhelming afternoon at Libeskind's Jewish Museum. Here's the second of many (many) meals together along with our two fabulous guides Nadine and Arjan (in front on left and right).

“All journeys have secret destinations of which the traveler is unaware.” (M. Buber)

Should you be too busy to scroll down the page and click on any of the links to the right, here's the message for you:
Our hotel in Berlin.
The Jewish community in Berlin. And everything Jewish in Berlin.
Abraham Geiger College where we'll be on Friday night.
The egal minyan where we'll be the next Friday night. And other synagogues in Berlin.
Scheunenviertel.
Sachsenhausen.
The Jewish Museum Berlin.
Reichstag and Bundestag (German Parliament).
Speyer.
Heidelberg (including the Hochschule fuer Juedische Studien).
Worms.
Leipzig.
.
A guide to Berlin!

You may also want to read up on these places through the various Wikipedia pages...it's always nice to know what you're seeing.

"The wastebasket is a writer's best friend." (I.B. Singer)

Check the Google Docs folder; journal questions are up and available!

Overcrowding in the German Classroom

"The department for history and philosophy, for one, is at 170 percent of capacity." Holy cow.

A Place to Rest Our Heads

At long last: hotel information!

Here's how to get there (print this out and bring it with you):
When you land at Tegel, you want to take Bus #128; you can find the stop next to Gate #15 in Terminal A. You can buy a ticket from the bus driver ("Einzelfahrt"/One way--A/B ticket) or from the machine at the bus stop (if you buy it from the machine, you will need to validate the ticket--the validating machine is on-the-bus itself; look for a red box with a slot in it). Take the bus to the U-Bahn (subway) station called "Kurt Schuhmacher Platz." You'll get off the bus and go downstairs to get on the U-6 toward "Alt-Mariendorf." (The directions are -very- clearly marked, plus the trains themselves are labeled with the direction in which they travel.)

You'll go NINE stations to "Oranienburger Tor." Get off the train and go out of the station. You'll walk north on Friedrichstrasse to Oranienburgerstrasse (look at the map). Turn right on Oranienburgerstrasse, walking on the south side of the street. Our hotel is on the right side of the street, number 52.

It's a great place in a great place: we are very lucky to be there!

The Other Side of the Coin

What's it like for a third generation Germany who discovers his/her grandfather was a Nazi? Sounds heartwrenching.

"A Berlin Jew" and (some of) his beefs

An honest, if irreverent, take on being a Jew in Berlin by Fabian Wolff a la his articles on the Heeb blog. Here's one that sets the scene; here's a serious critique of the new "humor" of some German hipsters (I'm partial to this line: "For me, one of the few Jews living in Berlin, I have to say screw this getting comfortable with history BS.").

What's your take on the new comic turn--funny? harmless? offensive? Something else entirely?

New Exhibit on Eichmann's Trial Opens Old Wounds

The New York Times' Europe correspondant, Michael Kimmelman, on the new exhibit at the Topography of Terror (near the site of Hitler's bunker in Berlin) on Eichmann and his trial (50 years ago this year).

Ready to Shop? And Eat?

Berlin Vintage under $100. And Berlin eating for probably a bit more. (From the NYTimes).

Questions to Ponder for Session I

Why do you think Elon begins his book with a description of Moses Mendelssohn as a 14 year old immigrant (walking barefoot through the snow)? And why does he dwell so on Mendelssohn's appearance?

What is to gain and what is at risk in creating and maintaining the idea of the duality of identities and the dis/connect between the terms (and ideas) of "German" and "Jew"?

And what do you think is gained and/or lost by locating the narrative history of German Judaism in a specific geographical location? Elon centers his story of the modern Jewish presence in Germany in Berlin but Gay begins the narrative in locations in the west. How does geography affect your understanding of the trajectory of the story we are learning?

Books Returned to Berlin Gemeinde

Restitution project at the Staatsbibliothek recovers pre-WWII books (including travel guides and books from the Boys School in Berlin); they were returned in a big ceremony today at the Centrum Judaicum. News stories are here and here. And if you want to cut your teeth on some German, here's the article about the event in the Judische Allgemeine (the Jewish newspaper in Germany).

Travel Tips & Tools from Google

Just in time to help chart your trip, check out these very helpful tools from the folks at Google.

Applications for Summer 2011 Now Available!

The dates for the Summer 2011 HUC Germany Close Up class/trip have been set: make sure to save May 24-June 3, 2011 on your calendars. Dates for the pre-trip preparation to be arranged in the spring. All currently enrolled HUC-JIR students are eligible (that includes the soon-to-be-ordained and -graduated). Applications are available here.