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Germany in Class: Social Studies March 11, 2008 New Program to Create Transatlantic Ambassadors for German-Jewish Understanding A new program of the German Federal Government that seeks to provide American Jews with an opportunity to experience modern Germany has already sent two groups of young New Yorkers to Berlin. In April, the Federal Government will introduce the public to the program "Germany Close Up", which is administered by the Centrum Judaicum Foundation at Berlin’s New Synagogue. Jewish Americans in their twenties and early thirties can already apply to participate at www.germanycloseup.de.
Yona Shem Tov and Ruth Glenn, both daughters of Holocaust survivors, were among the young New Yorkers who traveled to Berlin with the first groups. In January, they shared their impressions with members of New York’s Jewish community at a reception hosted by Consul General Hans-Jürgen Heimsoeth. At Heimsoeth’s home on January 23, 2008, they said they had enjoyed the vibrant spirit of the German capital and witnessed signs of revitalized Jewish life in Berlin. Highlights included the beautiful Synagogue on Rykestraße in Berlin, which was finally reopened after years of restoration, and the new Chabad Lubavitch Community Center in Berlin Wilmersdorf. Jewish communities in Germany have grown rapidly since German reunification, with new and reopened Synagogues and community centers providing a visible profile for the revitalized community. According to the Central Council of Jews in Germany, over 100,000 Jews now belong to Jewish communities across Germany. Berlin’s Jewish community is the country’s largest with over 12,000 members. Shem Tov and Glenn also met with members of the German parliament and representatives of Jewish communities. In meetings with young Germans of all backgrounds, they discussed history as well as challenges for the future. Heimsoeth said that participants in these kinds of exchanges play an important role by sharing their experiences with others. “The result of these programs,” Mr. Heimsoeth stressed, “is hundreds of Ambassadors of German-Jewish relations on both sides of the Atlantic.”
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