Broken glass

We live on Augustenstrasse, two houses from a synagogue just down the street. The synagogue itself is somewhat subtle, with an unobtrusive Star of David imprinted on the glass above the front door, which is tucked into an alcove. I only realized that it was a synagogue when I noticed clumps of people speaking Russian outside every so often which caused me to look closer at the building. I thought about how bizarre the world was, with an Australian/American in old East Germany wondering at what stories these Russian Jews could tell.

I have only been inside a synagogue once, for a naming ceremony for a baby girl of two friends of ours, A and E, in Madison, Wisconsin. It was a really lovely ceremony, conducted in Hebrew, and just full of warm community spirit. In that instance, and from an outsiders perspective, there was something wonderful in being able to combine ethnicity and tradition with religion. A and E had only just arrived in town, but regardless of their specific views on religion, they felt very comfortable attending one of their local synagogues.

So seeing that someone had thrown rocks and smashed three or four windows of our local synagogue is chilling. I know these kinds of things happen all the time, across Europe and in the States, but it is always bracing when you see it. What is somewhat surreal is that we live in a nice part of town, an area where I feel thoroughly safe, and yet this happens. The fact that we are living in Germany, with all the concomitant historical overtones, is what finally renders this act so especially chilling.

You might not like what Israel is doing right now on the other side of the planet. You can construct a strong argument that even the Wall Street Journal will publish, that Israeli actions are war crimes. However, Germany is a democracy and there are many avenues for peacefully expressing your opinion, without attempting to intimidate the very small Jewish minority that may or may not even agree with Israeli actions.