Saturday, May 8, 2010

Hamelin

A Momentous Day for Hamelin

Wolfhard F. Truchsess

Two spades, decorated in Israel's colors of blue and white, now stand in the middle of the land upon which the Hamelin synagogue in the Buerenstrasse stood until it was burnt down by the Nazis on the 9th of November 1938. A few feet away a gaily decorated table with champagne bottles and glasses ready to be served stands in wait. About 200 people stand, anticipating the symbolic groundbreaking ceremony representing the building of the first newly constructed Reform synagogue in post-Shoah Germany. School students with their teachers, neighbors, politicians and of course, the members of the Hamelin Reform Jewish Congregation have come to experience what only a few years ago seemed like an impossibility to everyone except the representative of the Jewish community—that Hamelin will once again have a synagogue. Before Rachel Dohme begins to speak, neighbors Mr. and Mrs. Wache hand her a small parcel. It is a stone from the original synagogue. "We collected it from the rubble and have kept it ever since," explains Annette Wache. "You surely need bricks to build the new synagogue," she says to Dohme, "so we wanted to give one to you."

The congregation's president is beaming with happiness as she addresses the crowd: “What a moment we are allowed to experience! What absolute joy! The gratitude that we feel is infinite. Most of all, we thank God.” The building of the synagogue, according to Rachel Dohme, is important not only to congregation. “It is just as important to all the citizens of Hamelin as it is to us. Though the wounds of the Holocaust still pain us deeply, the building of this synagogue is testimony to healing and normalization. It will be a vehicle for Tikkun Olam.” The synagogue will be a Jewish community center, a place for encounters and dialogue, “a center of Jewish life, visible and open to all.”

Mayor Susanne Lippmann described the groundbreaking as a “historical moment for the city,” and felt its building honored the city by its “great meaning” as a center for Hamelin because it raises awareness both in and outside Germany. “May the building of the synagogue proceed quickly and well,” said Mayor Lippman, as did County Commissioner Ruediger Butte. It is a “proud day for Hamelin and the entire region,” said Butte. Hannover Rabbi Gábor Lengyel recited the Shehechiyanu, the prayer to appreciate important Jewish events, and pointed out the importance of building the synagogue in its original location. The synagogue would not only be a house of prayer, but a house of community learning and teaching.

The groundbreaking followed, with Rachel Dohme, Susanne Lipmann, Ruediger Butte, Rabbi Lengyel, and congregational vice president Polina Pelts each sinking the spade in the soft earth. The dedication of the building is planned for February 2011. Lower Saxony's Minister President Christian Wulff will attend.

Polina Pelts was especially moved. "When I came to Hamelin from Odessa fourteen years ago, I never dreamed it would be possible to experience a day like today. It is the highlight of my life as a Jew that this dream of a new synagogue has actually come true."

Rachel Dohme herself said: "The groundbreaking today is a visible symbol to the members of our community that this dream has become reality." She thanked all those who in the past years have helped her to realize this dream. The actual building will begin next week.

© Dewezet, 5/8/2010