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Dear members, friends and supporters,
The sunny month of May brought not only Spring blossoms in all their colorful splendor to view but also was a month of various religious and cultural activities.
We observed Memorial and Remembrance Day on May 9th. Mrs. Swetlana Banschukova and Mr. Matvej Dvortsis organized a program of poetry, readings and music. Much time, energy and love was invested and evident. For our many members from the FSU and those born elsewhere, remembering those who fought in World War II is a day of gratitude, freedom and honor. Observing this day is not only a political act but also a deeply religious one as well. Many members proudly wear their medals of service next to their Magen David. Both attest to their identity. After the moving program, a hearty meal of potatoes and herring was enjoyed by one and all. Once again, we see that our congregation is supported by many hands and many shoulders. Who is the congregation? We are the congregation!
 
Once again the congregation joined together to celebrate Lag BaOmer with an open-air service in the garden of our neighbour, the Reformed Lutheran Church. We were happy to host several of their members at the picnic that followed. Our rabbinical student, Yan Tsipris led the service and explained the history and customs of this holiday in his sermon. The weather was a bit cool but no one was bothered and the delicious kosher hot dogs and delicious home-made salads and desserts warmed everyone up. The day ended with Yan strumming his guitar and the children leading the community in song. A perfect day in the middle of the Omer Counting! We thank Pastor Hoffmann and his congregation for their warm hospitality.
 
Our rabbinical student offered a Havdallah ceremony and concert the next evening. We stood together to take leave of Shabbat. The beauty of the braided Havdallah candle and it’s dancing flame bathed the sanctuary and our faces in a soft golden glow. Shoulder to shoulder, arms linked, we swayed and sang the prayers for light, sweet spices and wine. This bittersweet ceremony highlights the separation of the holy and the mundane, Shabbat and the weekdays. Ending with the song “Shavua Tov” (Have a good week) in as many languages as we collectively knew, we said goodbye to Shabbat for another week. Yan Tsipris brought us together with a lovely concert of Yiddish, Hebrew and Russian music.
 
Our congregation is grateful to the Abraham Geiger College for the rabbinical students we have had the privilege to host. Each has brought different personal qualities to the year-long internship. We appreciate each and every one of these student's special gifts. We see our working relationship with Abraham Geiger College as a win-win situation and say thank you.
The month ended with our festive holiday of Shavuoth. We celebrated the holiday with services led by Rabbi Irit Shillor. Following Erev Shavuoth services and dining on scrumptious cheesecake, we commenced our Tikkun ha Leilah (Night of Learning). Shavuoth celebrates receiving the Torah. As a sign of this joy, we study through the night together. This year, Rabbi Shillor selected texts to deepen and intensify our understanding of the principles of Reform Judaism. We examined the history of Reform Judaism and its' origin in Germany. We were delighted that Rabbi Shillor brought guests from her British congregation in Harlow to celebrate the holiday with us. We thank Dieter for his traditional “midnight soup” which no Shavuoth Study Night can be without! The following afternoon, we gathered together again for a Mincha service before having to bid Rabbi Shillor goodbye for another month.
Our Internet Presence
Those of you reading this newsletter in English are reading the internet version. The newsletter is also available in print form in German and Russian for members and supporters here in Germany. Many hours and many hands and heads go into producing this monthly informational newsletter. Keeping us “online” is no small expense for our small community of 90% Russian Jewish immigrants. We recognize the importance of this media tool in connecting and informing others to our congregational efforts and developments. This newsletter has been the most efficient and successful outreach tool in our attempts to network internationally. Many new relationships have been established and built as a result of this newsletter and we are grateful to all involved. If you would care to help insure that we can stay online, please contact Rachel Dohme at racheldohme@jghreform.org. We appreciate any and all support.
Our Youth Group, “Young and Jewish”
Every congregation's future depends on a strong, religiously identified youth. The youth of our congregation and their religious education is one of our highest priorities. It is wonderful that the youth of our community actively participate in the classes so creatively prepared by teachers Faina Pelts and Lior Blase. During Shabbat and festival services, we see what the children have learned and delight in their participation in services. Thanks to additional activities with Jewish youth from other German Reform congregations, they can enjoy regional “Netzer Days,” seminars, and of course summer and winter camping experiences. This summer's camp is only a few weeks away and hopefully many of our youth will participate-as campers or as counsellors. We are additionally blessed to have dedicated mothers like Mrs. Oulia Berhovski, who organize field trips with a Jewish touch. In May, “Young and Jewish” spent the day in nearby Bielefeld and Patrizia gives the following report:
Everyone met at the train station at the appointed hour and spot. After about an hours' ride, we arrived in Bielefeld. First we visited the town's Holocaust Memorial. It was very moving and we were saddened to see how many young people perished. It made us all sad.
Afterwards we took a streetcar to the Sparrenburg Castle. We had to walk to the top of a mountain by foot-it was exactly 120 steps and really exhausting! We needed a snack to regain our strength. Then we had a look at the castle tower.
We hurried down and to the synagogue, where we were greeted by members there. Everyone was very friendly. The synagogue is very modern and very beautiful. The inside is also very nicely decorated.
We all enjoyed a snack and played some games together. We played a Synagogue Quiz too and afterwards had some delicious ice cream.
I really enjoyed the day and hope the Bielefeld Youth Group will visit us in Hamelin soon. I invited them already.
Yours, Patrizia
Cultural Events in June
We extend an invitation to all our members and friends to the following cultural events in June:
On Saturday, June 13th, our synagogue choir Shalom, our Duo Benkschaft and our young cantor, Rebekka Dohme will give a benefit concert in “House of Religions in Steinbergen beginning at 5:00 p.m. Money raised will go toward our synagogue building fund. We thank Dr. Peter Neumann for the idea and organization of the concert.
The “Senior Café” on Sunday, June 14th, has a special musical afternoon planned. Mrs. Larissa Moysejeva will perform a program of works by Franz Liszt, entitled “Dreams of Love”. Club chairman, Mr. Matvej Dvortsis looks forward to greeting many members and friends to this concert and asks for a small contribution of €2 per person.
At 2:00 p.m. on Sunday, June 21st, our congregational Israeli Dance Troupe, “Chag Sameach” will perform in the city park as part of the city-wide “Niedersachsen Day”. Our dancers certainly hope to see many familiar faces cheering them on. We thank them for representing our community at such an important cultural event. Afterwards, wW will return to the synagogue for refreshments, joined by our friends and visitors from the Liberal Congregation of Hamburg, who will be visiting us for the day.
Last but certainly not least, we will participate once again in the summer series, “Music and Words”. The theme this year is “Stories, Tales and Legends”.
On Wednesday, June 24th,, Rabbi Irit Shillor and Mrs. Christa Bruns will read texts and our choir Shalom will add the music to our evening, entitled: “Jewish Wisdom and Christian Legends. The evening begins at 6:15 p.m. in the St. Bonifatius Lutheran church.
15th Annual Conference of the Union of Progressive Jews of Germany
The 15th annual conference of the UPJ will be held July 9th–12th in Berlin. This year's theme is “Liberal Judaism Today.” Fascinating and informative workshops and seminars will be offered by leaders and teachers from Germany and around the world. Moving services in Hebrew, German and Russian will also be celebrated. We hope many of you will attend. Information is available online at www.liberale-juden.de (Jahrestagung 2009)
“Stumbling Stones” — No Thank You
There has been much discussion about whether or not Hamelin should participate in the ”Stolpersteine” (Stumbling Stones) project. These brass blocks are embossed with names of Jews murdered in the Holocaust and set into the sidewalk. Our congregation and many of the relatives of former Jewish citizens of Hamelin vehemently oppose this project. We have presented our point of view to the citizens of Hamelin and to our city government, and they have shown understanding and respect toward our point of view. In an open letter to the Mayor of Hamelin, we have expressed our feelings that remembering those murdered in the Holocaust is for us, the Jewish Congregation of Hamelin, of utmost priority. We support remembrance but not in this form. We will incorporate the memorial tablets of the more than 100 names of the former Jews of Hamelin into the new synagogue. Their names and their memory will be held in respect, eye to eye and not under foot!
Russian Book Club
The second meeting of the newly established Russian Book Club met on May 13th. The participants discussed the works of the famous Jewish author Shalom Alechem. Mr. Zyranov held a short lecture on the author's life and Mrs. Pesok read selections from his books. A lively discussion followed. The grroup's leader and initiator, Mrs. Konstantinova, is looking forward to book presentations at the June meeting. Interested members can join in on Wednesday, June 10th at 11:00 a.m. The Book Club hopes to meet monthly to discuss the books over a cup of tea.
Donations — Tzedaka
We are grateful to the many people who continually support our work and our plans to build a new synagogue.
We thank all those individuals, who gave so generously. We thank the following: Schiller Gymnasium, class 6C and 7B, Viktoria Luise Gymnasium, Church Association of Schaumburg, Mrs. Angelika Herz, Mrs. Anja Grah, Mrs. Trudel Steinberg-Krupp, Mr. Lior Blase, Mr. John Smith and the Pesok family.
We are grateful for a very generous anonymous contribution.
We thank Mrs. Polina Pelts for a generous contribution in memory of her beloved husband, Josef Pelts.
May all donors be blessed for their generosity.
Tree of Life — Etz Chayim
Who will contribute the next leaf? Each leaf not only adorns our sanctuary but also helps us raise funds for our synagogue. Leaves can be ordered through our office or by contacting Rachel Dohme or on this Web site: Tree of Life. Each leaf costs a minimum of $100 (quadruple chai plus expenses). Please contribute a leaf and help us to build our synagogue!
Contributed by Mrs. A. Herz: “In memory of my mother, Inge Dickmann”
Mazel Tov — Congratulations
Mazel Tov to this year's graduating class at Abraham Geiger Rabbinical College. The festivities are planned for June 18th in the newly restored Synagogue Rykestrasse in Berlin. The ordination will be followed by evening festivities, celebrating the College's 10th anniversary and the awarding of the 2009 Abraham Geiger Prize to the German theologian, Dr. Hans Küng.
Thank you —Toda Raba
- Special thanks to Pastor Hoffman and his congregation for allowing us to use their garden for our Lag baOmer picnic.
- We thank Oulia Berhovski for planning and organizing the field trip for our youth to Bielefeld.
- We thank our synagogue choir, “Shalom” for performing in Stadthagen. They raised €400 for the Jewish Museum there.
- We are grateful to each and every person and every organization, in Germany and America, for their support of our community.
- We appreciate and thank our community members who helped make our holidays, services and celebrations special.
- We thank Julian Dohme who helped us with the graphic layout of this newsletter.
Unvieling
The unveiling ceremony for Sofia Kaspler, of blessed memory, was held on May 5th. The service was led by R. Dohme and W. Pesok.
 June Yahrzeit — We remember:
- Dr. Iljy Latkov June 5, 1998 / 11 Sivan 5758
- Matvej Slavinskiy June 23, 1998 / 29 Sivan 5758
May their memory be for a blessing. Please join family members during Sabbath services as we recite Kaddish. Yahrzeit candles are available in the office.
Shalom,
—Your Synagogue Board
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