Strengthening Jewish Life In Germany: The Haroset Challenge
EINS…ZWO…DRE… and the race to make haroset sans recipe began. Two groups - adults versus children – frantically scurried about chopping walnuts and peeling apples. This culinary contest, modeled after a popular German TV show, is one of the many JDC activities in Germany sponsored by the Chais Family Foundation, aimed at educating and fostering what is now the fastest-growing Jewish community in the world. While no one can quite recall or agree on who won the contest, everyone remembers what they learned about the sweet mixture’s representation in the Passover seder.
The Chais Family Foundation and its programs were born of great necessity. Since Germany’s reunification in 1990, the country has opened its doors to tens of thousands of Jews, in particular offering attractive incentives to those from the former Soviet Union, where for generations they were unable to worship openly and freely as Jews. Now living in Germany, these immigrants are helping Jewish communities take root on the same land which once symbolized the destruction of European Jewry.
Nonetheless, this surge in Germany's Jewish population has created serious challenges, among them, how to enable the many small- and mid-sized Jewish communities to develop Jewish life. New immigrants from the FSU arrive with little knowledge of or connection to Jewish communal life and they do not have the option to move to larger Jewish centers - such as Berlin, Frankfurt, Düsseldorf or Munich - as to leave the cities in which they were placed would mean forfeiting vital government support. In addition, Germany lacks a fertile base of Jewish communal leaders who could facilitate community development and integration initiatives.
Leveraging JDC’s expertise in helping Jewish communities in the FSU build infrastructures to return Jews to Jewish life, The Chais Family Development Program is working in partnership with local communities and federations to revitalize Jewish communities in Germany. To this end, it focuses on developing local Jewish leadership through programs such as the Buncher and Leatid; renewing Jewish life, particularly where smaller populations exist, through a range of cultural and educational programs as well as the building of Jewish libraries with resources for Russian-speaking populations; and establishing a regional and international network that will help to connect this burgeoning Jewish community with its neighbors.
Most recently, along with its haroset challenge, the Foundation sponsored Passover-related programs tailored to all ages. Young children were lead in learning activities and song by older Jewish youth who are already involved in the community, while the adults gathered to read, discuss and analyze the sederand learn the meaning behind the many symbols of the ancient ceremony.. The lesson turned into a conversation of the principles of the sederin modern times, including the concepts of personal freedoms, group rights, transmigration and minority segregation - issues of particular relevance to the participants. At day’s end, the families from Aachen, Duisburg, Monchengladbach, and Mainz came together to sing traditional Passover songs. Each family was presented with a Haggadah, which, combined with the new knowledge they garnered, enabled them to confidently lead their families in a traditional seder. "Food, song, story and prayer are all essential cornerstones to Jewish life, the ideas and true meaning of which cannot be learned from study alone," observed an elderly Chais Family Development Program participant. "Rather, they require a community to share them with, which is what unites us as a people."
