European Judaism

In a journal that only appears twice a year, we are always likely to be overtaken by events. In the case of the first article in this issue, Frank Dabba Smith’s important study of the history of Dr Ernst Leitz and his contribution to saving Jewish lives during the Second World War, an earlier version of this paper attracted considerable international attention. It was featured in major newspapers in the UK and Germany and in time will appear in book form. We are delighted to publish the fullest account to date of his research, as well as Frank’s book review of Michael Walzer’s Law, Politics and Morality. An important companion piece is the paper by two ‘Lilianas’, Furman and Feierstein, who have researched the history of Jewish books plundered by the Nazis and their immediate post-war fate. They focus in particular on the dramatic story of the attempts to print a new edition of the Talmud in post-war Germany, itself a form of resistance to the destruction wrought by the Nazis.

For ten years, I have researched the little-known history of altruism at the world famous camera manufacturer 'Ernst Leitz of Wetzlar' during the Nazi nightmare of 1933 to 1945. In previous publications, I have examined the motivations and actions of Ernst Leitz II and his daughter Elsie Kühn-Leitz as well as detailing examples of individuals and families who were helped. As more archival material is discovered and more descendents are interviewed, a fuller picture of these remarkable rescue activities may be revealed. This article is a work in progress.

This article, which deals with the Nazis' attempt to destroy the Jewish people and their culture, embodied in the symbol of the Book, seeks to reveal the metaphorical replies which the She'erit Hapletah succeeded in producing in the years immediately after liberation (1945–1951), despite endless and unutterable pain. It had to do with starting to read again, that is, to live. It pays homage to the survivors' will to live.

Though ever preferring to give credit to others, the late Rabbi John Desmond Rayner (1924-2005), born Hans Sigismund Rahmer, played an indisputably monumental role in changing the face of contemporary non-orthodox1 Jewish liturgy. In collaboration with American Reform rabbi and coeval Chaim [Herman] Stern, Rayner produced for the Liberal Jewish movement in Britain the landmark Service of the Heart (Hebrew: Avodat ha-Lev) and Gate of Repentance (Hebrew: Petach Teshuvah). Both works set the trend of a whole generation by bringing about an overdue revitalization and leading to the creation of a whole slew of prayerbooks on virtually every continent.

I was raised in Birmingham Liberal Synagogue and went regularly to synagogue from an early age, often twice a week. The first orthodox service I attended was at the age of 22, at the Simchat Torah when I started at Leo Baeck College. I had known only three prayerbooks: Dr Mattuck's black-covered Liberal Jewish Prayerbook, volumes I, II and III. Rabbi John Rayner had quite a different beginning, approaching Dr Mattuck's liturgy after a boyhood and youth in Berlin spent praying from a relatively more traditional prayerbook (the Einheitsgebetbuch). I think this paved the way to the great scholarship and feel for Jewish liturgy that helped him become the greatest progressive liturgymaker of our age.

What follows is a transcript of three interviews with Rabbi John D. Rayner, C.B.E., by Charles H. Middleburgh, held over three months between January and March 2005.

Midrash arises out of many different and often opposing readings of Scripture. The importance of the dialogue between texts from different historical periods is clearly important, but so too is the organic development of legends, themes or motifs which can be read back into scriptural texts. The association of the themes of creation and in particular, the legends connected with the first human being, are important in discussing the relationship between our three texts. As Irving Jacobs points out, though, there is also a third element in this conversation between texts and their ideas, 'the people for whom the text was intended'. How a congregation listens to a text, the way in which a generation brings its own concerns and perceptions to legal or aggadic texts and imbues them with new, multiple and complex meanings, is as important as the textual relationship itself.

Rabbi John Rayner z"l was my teacher, as he was for so many rabbis of my generation, and there is hardly an area of Jewish thought in which he did not influence my thinking. His last book was entitled Signposts to the Messianic Age, so it seemed appropriate to present this paper at the 50th anniversary of Leo Baeck College, where he was one of its foremost teachers, about the Messiah.

Eastern Europe was until recently, for Jews in the rest of the world, an area of memories of disaster and oppression. It was a region that was wiped from the Jewish world and from which Jews fled. Dramatic developments and rapid change have altered the picture. Eastern Europe now presents us with glimmers of opportunity and challenges that must be met. This brief paper outlines these challenges and opportunities. It does not propose solutions. It is intended to be a starting point and basis for discussion.

This workshop ranged from the level of the individual to that of national Jewish movements. In challenging the extent to which rabbis and synagogues empower Jews to express their Judaism in their working relationships and outside of the Jewish community, we considered how we could fulfil Rabbi Dr Leo Baeck's exhortation that 'Judaism must not stand aside when the great problems of humanity struggle in the minds of men to gain expression and battle in the societies of mankind to find their way.'

The July workshop in 2006 aimed at analysing one specific Jewish approach to define its essence and identity as it has been presented by Leo Baeck (1873-1956), generally considered to have been the last great exponent of German Liberal Judaism. Here we focus on the attempt to evaluate the connection of Liberal Jewish Theology and Liberal Christian Theology at the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. This will serve as background in order to explain Baeck's contribution to the Jewish-Christian dialogue.

In this paper, we will look at what Judaism does have to say about ongoing training. We will also look at contemporary secular wisdom - and practice - on the subject. Thirdly, we will look at recent trends within the progressive rabbinate, here in Britain and overseas. Finally, in the spirit of tikkun olam, we shall consider how we can make things better going forward, so that we, like all other professionals, can be supported to be 'the best that we can be'.

I have tried to portray the rich tapestry that the Jewish tradition presents to us when we seek guidance as to the pursuit of justice and its role in overcoming the painful ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. My selection, undoubtedly, has been subjective, though I have tried to present different and conflicting perspectives. The clear conclusion that one may derive is that there is no one Jewish perspective of justice, nor one avenue for its application in present-day conflicts. Judaism expects us to make choices. Judaism, and religion altogether, can be a source of healing and strong proponent of peace. Alas, it can also serve to demonize the other, reduce his/her rights and justify subversion of the spirit of justice.

I have shared with you stories about the Torah: the Torah that was forbidden to have at home, held captive behind the glass in the Museum of Atheism, whose blessing was unknown to even the learned leaders, that was almost ripped and whose letters once faded are now being filled in by the loving and determined hands of a new generation – letters from our holy language being written for the first time by Jewish children. Together, we have a holy opportunity to partner with the Jews of the FSU to write the next chapter in the Torah of Life of our people.

Poetry

Helen Fry, Jews in North Devon (Tiverton: Halsgrove, 2005), £19.99, 183 pp., ISBN 978-1-84114-437-5.

Peter Lawson, Anglo-Jewish Poetry from Isaac Rosenberg to Elaine Feinstein (London: Vallentine Mitchell, 2006), £45.00 (cloth), £19.50 (paper), 228pp., ISBN 978-0-85303-616-6 (cloth) 978-0-85303-617-3 (paper).

Michael Walzer (ed.), Law, Politics, and Morality in Judaism (New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 2006), £35.95 (cloth), £11.95 (paper), 224 pp., ISBN 978-0-691-12508-4.