Berlin

I am writing this as I wind my way through the country side on the way from Berlin to Hamburg. I am going to visit Christiane and Sebastian and to meet their new baby Lilli!

This was my second time attending the Jung and Judische conference in Spandau in Berlin. Fortunately this time, I was invited back as a lecturer, and had my way paid for. Touching down in Berlin, I felt very differently than I did the first time I landed last year. I remembered the heart palpitations, the minor freak-out that almost prevented my disembarkation from the plane. Last time I wanted to hate everyone, and stifled several internal screams (זעקות).

This time, much was different. Landing and making our way through Berlin reminded me more of my former many visits to Prague. I didn’t know the city woo well, but felt comfortable enough to get around and decipher some of the German. Without Mara as my researcher and navigator I took up the responsibility for Mark and Maoz (traveling with me from Israel). I found my bearings quickly and in our short free time prior to the conference I took them to see the Orianenburger Strasse Synagogue and the grave marker of Moses Mendelssohn.

It was cold and sleety, and after a night of no sleep (I mean I had to watch “500 days of Summer” on the plane) we made our way back to Spandau to get ready for the conference.

I guess I should stop and mention here that certain facts of life should not be taken for granted. For instance, it goes without saying that the Berlin public transit system is impeccable, clean, runs on time and basically accessible to all areas needed. It also is a simple fact of life that all over the city are waste receptacles for sorting “garbage”. Plastics, glass, and organic bins frequent S & U-bahn stations as well as hotel rooms. Wow. Why exactly is it that in all of our brilliance and technological savvy we can’t get our act together to put such a system into place in Israel??? I know, I know there are excuses, some of them even legitimate, but still.

The Conference

The “Jewish Journeys” conference that I participated in this weekend left me with more questions than answers. As I continue on my own track, continuing to study and work in the field of Jewish education, and drifting further and further away from any religious expression, I found myself in a sort of weird place of not caring yet bothered by certain things.

I try not to make a habit of attending tfilot too often, yet felt the obligation to go (seeing as the conference paid for my being there). So, I was polite and went and tried to be a good example for my former Shnat Netzer students, but some things just get under my skin, as a sort of nostalgic remnant of days when I did care about such trivialities. For example, I can’t help but cringe when the guitar player strums an Em when a G would have suited better. Not something that anyone else noticed, but I just couldn’t help it. Why do they need to cut out so much of Kabbalat Shabbat??? I realized that I connect much more to this section of the Friday night davening as it is simply a compilation of Psalms and Piyyutim that I enjoy much more than other liturgical expressions. I suppose they can’t very well bring themselves to cut the Amidah, but אם כבר אז כבר…

Shabbat morning was slightly worse. It was like a ‘best of’ of classical Reform with thr true German traditions. Now, don’t get me wrong, the rabbinical students leading are indeed well versed, thoughtful and talented, it just wasn’t my style. The former professional classical musician turned rabbi-in-training would be I’m sure a wonderful option for an old school Temple Sinai (Chicago) or Emmanuel (NYC) or even the Great Synagogue (with a piano) but I could only take so much and needed a temporary relocation to the lobby couches where I curled up with a book until the Torah service.

What does this say for the future of liberal Jewish life in Europe? Well, I’m not sure.

More to come...