Next week fifteen RA-colleagues will be spending a week together in Berlin. Through our association with Germany Close Up, we will be exploring issues of Jewish memory and will meet with German politicians and educators to discuss how Germany approaches Holocaust education.
The German people and the Jewish people will be forever connected to that darkest period of the past. While our perceptions are of course quite different, we look back on the same historical moment. Our time in Berlin allows us not only to engage with German leaders and teachers on this critical topic, but also to establish ourselves as a rabbinic presence engaged in education and representing the best of American Jewry. Our colleague Gesa Ederberg in Berlin will be a part of our group as we look forward to learning first hand of her important work with the Berlin Masorti community. Please follow along as we seek to keep a log of our experiences and reflect on their impact. I am grateful for the blessings of this opportunity for learning and hevra, and look forward to what I know will be an important week for all of us.
-David Fine