Bneimitzvah service breathes Jewish life back into German shul not used since Kristallnacht

German-born Ines, who is Catholic, said: “For Jack and Ida, it was important to have their bneimitzvah in a synagogue, and with Rabbi Aaron. The challenge was where. We believed it should be near where we live now.”

The siblings were intent on having a Progressive celebration so Ida could read from the Torah.

“When we found the former synagogue in Wittlich, we were taken by it,” Ines said.

Wittlich Synagogue (Photo: Wikipedia)[Missing Credit]

Wittlich’s original synagogue was active from 1910 to 1938 before it was destroyed. With many of the community’s members murdered by the Nazis, survivors never returned.

Since 1979, the vacant premises have served as a cultural and conference centre and include a small museum, courtesy of the city council and the Emil Frank Institute, the charity preserving Wittlich’s Jewish history.

“The size and beauty of the building was impressive, and the exhibition in the attached museum was very moving,” said Ines.

The service, which gathered 120 friends and family from England, Luxembourg and Germany, was led by The Ark’s Rabbi Aaron Goldstein, alongside Emma Rich, the community, youth and education lead for the Movement for Progressive Judaism, and Rabbi Alexander Grodensky of the Liberal Jewish Community of Luxembourg.

During the ceremony, René Richtscheid of the Emil Frank Institute recounted the history of the former Wittlich Jewish community. Prayers were interspersed with readings from German and Austrian Jewish Holocaust survivors Ruth Klüger, Gerty Spies, Mascha Kaléko and Rabbi Dr Leo Baeck.

Jack and Ida prepare to read from the Torah (Photo: engelfotografie.com)[Missing Credit]

“It was so special and significant to see the synagogue being used for its original purpose, and that we had our friends and family with us to celebrate,” said Ben, with Ines adding: “We are so happy we could return Jewish life to this building. It would be great if there would be more Jewish ceremonies there in the future.”

“The joy for this family celebration was palpable and all the guests, whether Jewish or not, expressed the immense sense of history,” said Rabbi Aaron, who invoked the memories of the absent Jewish community throughout the service. “There was the sadness that there was no local community to celebrate with and the knowledge of their fate.

“But to witness a congregation in prayer and song and to experience two young people reading from the Torah, with this building’s walls once more reverberating with Judaism, was powerful.”

Rabbi Goldstein said that while there was no longer an aron hakodesh (ark) or ner tamid (eternal light) in the Wittlich Synagogue sanctuary, “everyone present, Jew and non-Jew, felt a lamp ignited in the cabinets of their soul”.

The bneimitzvah children, Jack and Ida, agreed, saying afterwards: “It was very special for us to be the first bar and batmitzvah here in almost 90 years.”