VZCZCXRO2727
RR RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDBU RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA
RUEHLN RUEHLZ RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHRL #1704 2531240
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 101240Z SEP 07
FM AMEMBASSY BERLIN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 9230
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUCNFRG/FRG COLLECTIVE
RUEHTV/AMEMBASSY TEL AVIV 0537
RUEHJM/AMCONSUL JERUSALEM 0133

UNCLAS BERLIN 001704 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: GM PGOV PHUM PREL
SUBJECT: RENAISSANCE OF JEWISH LIFE CONTINUES IN BERLIN 
 
¶1.  Summary:  Two new synagogues opened in Berlin, marking 
the revitalization of Jewish life in the former center of the 
Nazi Third Reich.  The Lubavitch (Hassidic) Jewish 
Educational Center was inaugurated on September 2, two days 
after the opening of the newly renovated and historic 
Rykestrasse Synagogue.  The openings of both synagogues were 
attended by numerous dignitaries, including the former chief 
rabbi of Israel and Holocaust survivors.  Foreign Minister 
Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Ambassador Timken attended the 
dedication of the Jewish Educational Center, which itself was 
the object of a failed fire-bombing attempt earlier this 
year.  Some observers stated that the unveiling of these 
synagogues demonstrates the resilience of the Jewish 
community in Germany, which looks to the construction of 
these synagogues as proof of the failure of Adolf Hitler's 
"final solution."  End summary. 
 
¶2.  Rabbi Yehuda Teichtal, the driving force behind the 
construction of the Jewish Educational Center, noted that the 
educational center is the first in Germany to be built 
exclusively with private funding.  He stressed that the 
center will strengthen the Jewish community in Berlin. 
Foreign Minister Steinmeier began his speech by welcoming the 
revitalized Jewish community in Berlin, stating that "whoever 
builds a house, stays."  He underlined that Germany hopes 
that Judaism will resume its rightful role as a key element 
of German society, despite the ongoing problem of 
anti-Semitism. 
 
¶3.   The Rykestrasse Synagogue is Germany's largest Jewish 
temple.  It first opened in 1904, serving the poorest of 
Berlin's Jewish residents.  It was destroyed by fire, and its 
Torah was desecrated, on Kristallnacht (Night of Broken 
Glass) in 1938.  The building was taken over by the German 
Army during the Second World War and used as a textile 
factory, then was returned to the Jewish community at the end 
of the war.  Religious services have been held in the 
synagogue ever since, but only now has it been restored to 
its original state.  The highlight of the Rykestrasse 
Synagogue's reopening was a speech by Rabbi Ernst Stein, who 
was rabbi at this synagogue before and during the Holocaust. 
Rabbi Stein expressed joy that the synagogue was rebuilt "in 
the land where Jews were murdered, humiliated, debased, and 
slandered." 
 
¶4.  Comment:  The openings of these synagogues, timed to 
occur just before Rosh Hashanah, come at a time when Germany 
is increasingly multicultural, but still afflicted by 
anti-Semitism.  Right-extremism remains a serious problem in 
Germany, as the September 7 stabbing of a rabbi in Frankfurt 
and much-publicized incidents in Halberstadt and Muegeln 
demonstrate.  Nonetheless, the Jewish community appears firm 
in its resolve to reenergize Jewish life in Germany.  End 
comment. 
TIMKEN JR