jews and jewish education in germany today - The Westbury Group

● That’s really brutal.
We are fighting to have these payments separate, so they can no longer be counted. That’s one problem, here
in Cologne there are maybe 200 people affected by this and the Community here refuses to become involved,
saying the German state will be correct. I said no, this can’t be, it must be on equal footing. Regardless of
where the restitution payments come from, they cannot be included. That’s the case for the ethnic Germans
and this must also hold for the Jewish immigrants. If there isn’t going to be a completely equal status with the
ethnic Germans, although that is where I think that would have been a fantastic political decision to say we
are going to treat Jewish immigrants the same way we treat ethnic German repatriates. I think that would
have been a great political decision, but it wasn’t taken.
● For a political decision they probably also said if we do that, we’ll have to do it for other ethnic minorities.
But German politics does have a special responsibility for Jewish immigrants. It’s always said that about
Israel, why shouldn’t it be the case for Jews regardless of where they’re from? You can see that they’re just
paying lip service.
● To jump to another topic. Which Jewish groups are you active in other than Gesher la Massoret?
In Yachad, that’s a nationwide group for gay and lesbian Jews.
● Are you also involved in political groups in Germany?
I’ve tried several times to become active in a political group, but the problem is in leftist groups everything
falls apart when it come to Israel.
● You mean that anti-Semitism rears its ugly head?
The leftist anti-Semitism is really horrible. When you go to a demonstration and you see all of the Palestinian
scarves and the slogans against Israel, then I just can’t take it.
● Would you consider yourself to be a strongly religious person? And what are for you, personally, the most
important elements of Jewishness?
I am religious in the sense that I believe in God. I have found my own way how this expresses itself.
Regarding religious services, there I would say that I’m the most conservative in Gescher la Massoret,
because I still like religious services like they’ve been for a long time now. But I think every person needs to
find their own way to God. The paths are as different as the people themselves. There’s no one right way.
● What was your specialty within the Cologne Community when you were on the board?
Working with children and young people.
● Where do you think are the largest gaps in the educational programs on offer? The question also includes
materials—are there enough educational materials for preschools, are there materials in the necessary
languages, are there good materials for adult educational programs? Where are the gaps in your Community
itself, or also in Germany?
In Germany as a whole I’d say there isn’t enough for children and young people. In general work with
children and young people isn’t emphasized enough. I think that in Germany it’s strange that children and
133 | P a g e