German shul reopens 73 years after pogrom
Glorious synagogue inaugurated in city of Speyer on ruins of old synagogue destroyed by Nazis on Kristallnacht. German president, ministers, hundreds of country's Jews attend ceremony
The synagogue's rebirth marks the revival of Jewish life in the country which gave the world one of the darkest times in human history.
The ceremony was attended by hundreds of Germany's Jews, as well as the German president and representatives of the Conference of European rabbis, who inaugurated the synagogue alongside representatives of the German government and municipal district.
Revival of Jewish life in Germany (photo courtesy of Moshe Friedman, Conference of European Rabbis)
German President Christian Wulff said that the revival of Jewish life in German was a gift. "We are glad that a new synagogue was built and that people will be able to pray in it," he noted.
Rabbi Pinchas Goldsmith during event (photo courtesy of Moshe Friedman, Conference of European Rabbis)
Speyer's Jewish community has suffered from many anti-Semitic incidents. The town's first synagogue was built in 1104, eight years after the execution of 10 Jews by the Crusaders. Some 600 Jews live in the area, most of them former Soviet Union residents.
German president alongside ministers and hundreds of Germans Jews (photo courtesy of Moshe Friedman, Conference of European Rabbis)
Glory and elegance (photo courtesy of Moshe Friedman, Conference of European Rabbis)
President of the Conference of European Rabbis and Moscow's Chief Rabbi Pinchas Goldsmith said that the greatest challenge was training rabbis to provide spiritual guidance to Germany's Jews.
"We have helped greatly in the reestablishment of central Jewish Orthodox educational institutions in Germany, including the Berlin yeshiva which educated Germany's rabbis until the Holocaust," he said.
"In this institute, future rabbis are trained to lead the Jewish community across Germany, and it serves as the spiritual center of the German Jewry today."
