Germany Edition Apr. 15

Germany Edition April 15, 2009 Dear Friends: When this issue arrives on your e-mail list I will almost be winging my way south to Atlanta and Pensacola, Florida for a brief vacation. However, I hope to remain in computer contact during the period each day when I will take time off to read your responses and answer them. I hope to have the next edition arrive in early May right before I leave for Washington and the American Jewish Committee’s Annual Meeting. IN THIS EDTION *Wanted: An American Ambassador to Germany *Germany Rife for Anti-Semitism? *UN Human Rights Council *Springtime for Hitler? *Spirituality vs. Peoplehood? *Obama’s Rabbi *The Obama Seder *The U.S., Iran and the New Israeli Government *Personal Notes WANTED: AN AMERICAN AMBASSADOR TO GERMANY The job of American Ambassador to Germany is, as of this writing, still unfilled. I wrote a short article on the subject but it is too long for a newsletter so I put it up on my blog/website. If you want to read it click here: http://www.dubowdigest.typepad.com/ (http://www.dubowdigest.typepad.com/) GERMANY RIFE WITH ANTI-SEMITISM? An article last week in The Local, an English language news service reporting from Germany, carried the headline “Jewish Council Says Anti-Semitism Still Rife”. Once you get below the headline you see that it is not the total Zentralrat speaking but its director, Stephan Kramer (Picture right). Kramer’s accusation is that the banning of the neo-Nazi HDJ (Heimattreue Deutsche Jugend) and the political protests against it were

“windowdressing”. Talking to DDP, he said, “… anti-Semitism was once again widespread in all areas of German society.” He (went on to say) fighting it was, “mostly only a dutiful expression in the political arena,” rather than real conviction. He said the presence of neo-Nazis in state legislatures was a damning indictment of all democratic parties, and added, “The question must be must permitted of whether Germany is at best a fair-weather democracy. Until now no-one has been able to give a convincing answer to this question, in order to contradict it.” He said the NPD, the neo-Nazi party which remains legal despite government attempts to ban it, played an important role not only in fostering but also in enabling anti-Semitism in Germany. “Although the NPD is tail-spinning from one institutional and financial crisis to the next, there is no reason for an all-clear signal – just the opposite, as the radical powers are going about taking over the leadership of the far-Right scene.” He said the concentration on the NPD had distracted from other, less visible organisations. The debate about whether to ban it was a pointless one he said, and simply served as an alibi to show that the politicians were engaging with the problem while other problems were ignored. The HDJ case simply illustrated what a broad basis the radical Right scene already had, he said, adding, “Happily it has now finally been banned, but it had already been carrying out its mischief for far too long.” It demonstrated, he said, “how the neo-Nazis are very successfully active with their long-term aims of working on recruiting the next generation.” He warned, “The ban of the HDJ will remain just a cosmetic measure if we do not now finally pay more attention to the area of youth work and offer alternatives.” He criticised the family ministry for its inaction, saying it continued to disappoint, particularly in youth work in rural areas. In reading (and re-re-reading) the story it’s not at all clear to me whether Stephan (who I know well) is speaking for himself or for the Zentralrat generally. If it is the latter, then it is a serious institutional accusation. No doubt, there remains anti-Semitism and extreme rightist sentiment in portions of Germany. However, I would have been more convinced if Stephan had backed up his statements with some more facts, figures and research. Certainly, more can be done to counteract neo-Nazism among young people and it is a disgarce that two State legislatures have NPD members but a wholesale

“finger pointing” doesn’t accomplish very much. According to a recent report the NPD has 7,000 members. That’s 7,000 too many but in a country of 82,000,000, 7,000 is probably the irreduceable minimum. Stephen is not some wild eyed radical. I think he sees the neo-Nazis with strength in some areas and that should concern everybody, not only him. I think his last thought in the article about paying more attention to youth work and offering alternatives is eminently sensible. Let’s hope more actually gets done. . Read The Local article here: http://www.thelocal.de/national/20090410-18563.html (http://www.thelocal.de/national/20090410-18563.html) UN HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL In 2006 the Human Rights Council of the United Nations was formed to take over from the Human Rights Commission. The Commission had lost all credibility because it had become a “one trick pony” namely an Israel bashing institution. It almost routinely stayed away from other genuine human rights violations because its political masters were those countries that were actually perpetrating the abuses. The Council has turned out to be no better. The U.S. Government has kept its distance because it did not want to be tainted by even being associated with the gross violator nations that held power in the Council. The Obama Administration has chosen a different course and has decided to seek a seat a Council seat in order to see if it could change things by being in the middle of the action. The American Jewish Committee maintains an institute in Geneva, UN Watch that monitors the Council’s compliance with the United Nations Charter. Therefore, AJC has some genuine credentials when it comes to judging the Council’s activities. David Harris, AJC’s Executive Director, recently wrote on the subject and said, “AJC today urged the United States to use its diplomatic leverage to reform the UN Human Rights Council, responding guardedly to the announcement that the U.S. will run for a seat in that body in May 2009. “The Council is structurally biased and deeply flawed, and must be overhauled,” said AJC Executive Director David Harris. “But, unless like-minded countries join Washington in a sustained reform effort, the U.S. will likely end up as an isolated dissenter in a politicized body. By declaring its candidacy, the United States has taken on a major responsibility, and we count on the Administration to follow through.”

I do not think there is much more to add. Having changed course the American Government now has to work on getting other right minded countries to come along and push for badly needed change. No UN human rights agency should have as its driving force some of those countries that are the worst offenders. Only in a topsyturvy world can that take place. Let’s see if the human rights ship can be refloated and righted. Who will attend the Durban II Conference on April 20th is still a question mark. The "resolution" is being edited and changed to make it less anti-Israel and obnoxious. The U.S. Government is studying it and, I assume, the German Government is doing the same. You can follow it in your local newspapers and I will watch it carefully and comment on it in my next newsletter. No matter who attends and who doesn't, the UN human rights situation is a mess and needs radical surgery. SPRINGTIME FOR HITLER? Der Spiegel Online recently reported that, “Berlin's Admirals palast theater will break new ground in May by staging the first production in Germany of the Mel Brooks musical "The Producers." Some, though, say Germany isn't ready for tap-dancing storm troopers and a camp Hitler singing "Heil Myself." The musical, based on a 1968 feature film written and directed by Brooks, is about a Broadway producer and his accountant who decide that they can earn more money by staging a flop than a hit. So they put on the worst, most inappropriate show they can find: "Springtime for Hitler," written by a Nazi pigeon-fancier who has taught his birds to lift their wings in the Hitler salute. Disappointingly for them, the singing and dancing Führer turns out to be so comic that audiences applaud the show as a satirical masterpiece and it becomes a hit, so the heroes go to jail for tax fraud. Mel Brooks's award-winning 2001 Broadway musical spawned a remake of the movie in 2005. Is Berlin and Germany ready for The Producers? While I’m not sure, what I am sure about is that there will be many diverse opinions expressed between now and May by all sorts of political and cultural experts expressing all sorts of opinions on the suitability of such a show actually being staged in Berlin. Reactions to this sort of thing are very personal. One person thinks one thing and another thinks something else.

As for me, I’m 100% undecided. I hope I’m not sounding “wishy-washy” but I see good and bad points on both sides. However, one thing does concern me. In the Der Spiegel article, Mel Brooks the great comedian (who is, of course, Jewish) and producer is quoted as saying, “…Germans tend to misunderstand "The Producers" as being about Nazis and the Third Reich, when in fact it's about two Jewish crooks trying to get rich. To which I say, “What’s so wonderful about that?” Even great producers say dumb things. If he wasn't Jewish we'd be accusing him of anti-Semitism. I guess we’ll all survive no matter what. I’d appreciate hearing from you as to what you think, Write to me at [email protected] (mailto:[email protected]) To read the story click here: http://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/0,1518,617987,00.html (http://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/0,1518,617987,00.html) OBAMA’S RABBI Does President Obama, who is a Christian, have a rabbi? Well, it seems as though he does – a first cousin once removed of his wife. Michelle Obama’s cousin is one of the few African-American Jews who actually has been ordained (given “smicha”) and heads a synagogue in Chicago. The history of black Jews is interesting and complicated. By and large, they have not been part of the white Jewish mainstream but Rabbi Capers Funnye seems to be changing that, (Picture right) The New York Times recently reported, that Rabbi Funnye “… celebrated Martin Luther King (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/k/martin_luther _jr_king/index.html?inline=nyt-per) Day this year in New York City at the Stephen Wise Free Synagogue, a mainstream Reform congregation, in the company of about 700 fellow Jews — many of them black. The organizers of the event had reached out to four of New York’s Black Jewish synagogues in the hope of promoting Jewish diversity, and they weren’t disappointed. African-American Jews, largely from Brooklyn, the Bronx and Queens, many of whom had never been in a predominantly white synagogue, made up about a quarter of the audience. Most of the visiting women wore traditional African garb; the men stood out because, though it was a secular occasion, most kept their heads covered. But even with your eyes closed you could tell who was who: the black Jews and the white Jews clapped to the music on different beats.

Skip to next paragraph (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/05/magazine/05rabbit.html?_r=1&hpw#secondParagraph#secondParagraph) Funnye, the chief rabbi of the Beth Shalom B’nai Zaken Ethiopian Hebrew Congregation in Chicago, one of the largest black synagogues in America, was a featured speaker that night. The overflowing audience came out in a snowstorm to hear his thoughts about two men: the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Barack Obama (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/o/barack_oba ma/index.html?inline=nyt-per). King is Funnye’s hero. Obama, whose inauguration (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/p/presidents _and_presidency_us/inaugurations/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier) was to take place the following day in Washington, is family — the man who married Funnye’s cousin Michelle. The New York Times article, written by Zev Chafets, not only deals with Rabbi Funnye’s relationship with the Obama family but provides an in-depth look at black Jews in the U.S., their origins, their religious practices and their current status in the broader American Jewish community. It is not short but well worth the time to learn more about this most interesting group of people. Go to www.nytimes.com (http://www.nytimes.com/) and type in "Funnye" in Search and it will come up. THE OBAMA SEDER Since we’re on the subject of President Obama, it should be noted that for the first time a sitting American President held a Passover Seder in the White House. One of his press secretaries said that it was to show his solidarity and affection for the Jewish community. More critical and, perhaps, cynical observers were thinking that, perhaps, with the Obama Administration moving somewhat away from the positions of the Israeli Government on the subject of a “Two State Solution” on the Israel Palestinian issue needed to make it clear that the American Jewish community was still near and dear to his heart. I’d like to believe the former interpretation that it was a genuine expression of how much Jews and Judaism mean to the President. It’s interesting that the Seder itself is being held directly by the

President who is, of course, not Jewish. The guest list includes both Jews and non-Jews most of whom attended a Seder he held last year while on the campaign trail. It’s interesting that the Passover Seder in the U.S. has been broadened out by American Jews to include all sorts of people as guests. For instance, the New York City Chapter of the American Jewish Committee holds one for foreign diplomats. In addition there are many different Haggadahs (order of the service) stressing the various themes (freedom, Jewish continuity, etc.) celebrated during Passover. I would even go so far as to say that Passover is passing over (pardon the pun) from being a strictly Jewish holiday into being one that is being more and more celebrated as an American event. Christmas and Easter have their secular side perhaps the same thing is happening to Passover. SPIRITUALITY vs. PEOPLEHOOD? The JTA reports that "Younger Jews are more spiritually inclined than their forbears and are closing the “spiritual gap” between Jews and other religions, according to a new study from researchers at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion. The $60,000 study, commissioned by the synagogue consultancy Synagogue 3000, also found that Orthodox Jews and Jews who have fewer than two Jewish parents score higher than other Jews on spirituality indexes. Taken together, the researchers conclude that ethnic identification is on the wane for American Jews, replaced with identification through spirituality, and that this trend will have significant policy implications. However in the same article, "Jack Wertheimer, a professor at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America who is cited in the study as being dismissive of the notion of rising spirituality, says he agrees with some of the report's findings. But he is concerned about the implication that Jews are becoming more spirituality focused and divorced from ritual behavior and the parallel decline in identification with, and a sense of responsibility for, the Jewish people. “I do think that synagogues and their religious leaders need to speak more in that kind of language,” Wertheimer said. “But at the same time, I don't want that to come at the expense of the ethnic component, or what I would call Jewish peoplehood. "We Jews have believed that these two components of our identity mesh with each other

and strengthen each other. I would not want to see spirituality come at the expense of Jewish collective action. ” I am not opposed to spirituality and the finding of deeper meaning in religion. However, as Wertheimer points out, if this new (it's really not so new) focus takes young American Jews away from their ethnic identification that is very troubling. Jewish history for the last 5,000 years or so indicate strongly that Jews, in the long run, mostly have had to count on themselves as a group in the staving off of destruction. If American Jews lose that sense of peoplehood then our continuity and security, even in this most wonderful of countries, may be at risk. If as a group we weaken our communal agenda will suffer. If we merge ourselves too fully into the general population we will become extinct through the forces of total integration. In any case, it's something else for American Jews and their leaders to worry about - as if we didn't have enough aggravation on our plate already. THE U.S., IRAN & THE NEW ISRAELI GOVERNMENT As we here in the U.S. end the Passover holiday, I believe that our thoughts will begin to turn more seriously to what appears to be a divergence in the way the governments of Israel and the U.S. look at the problems of the Middle East and how they should be addressed. It is an awful situation for American Jews when the two nations that mean the most to them not only look at troublesome international situations differently but when their policies might be going in different directions. There is little doubt that the Israelis (not only the government) see Iran as a much greater threat to their security than any of the various Palestinian factions and the Palestinian peace situation in general. It’s very difficult at this moment to see what where the major focus of the Obama Administration is or whether it is equally concerned with Iran on one hand and the Two State Solution on the other. There seems to be a lot of “Two State” talk coming out of Washington so one must assume that it is high on their agenda – higher than on the one the Israelis have. I continue to believe that “peace” is always an important item but how that can be achieved with Palestinians so devastatingly split themselves between Hamas and Fatah is something I can’t figure out. In any case, there seems to be a lot of unanswered policy questions on both sides with both new

administrations not as yet fully settled on the directions they might take. Prime Minster Netanyahu is scheduled to visit Washington at the end of this month and that should bring some clarity. In the meantime I hope that Netanyahu and his own Foreign Minister, Advigdor Lieberman, can get their signals coordinated so that it appears they are reading from the same page. That has not been the case in the last few weeks. There is an excellent article regarding this matter in The Jewish Week. Click here to read it: http://www.thejewishweek.com/viewArticle/c37_a15440/News/National.html (http://www.thejewishweek.com/viewArticle/c37_a15440/News/National.html ) PERSONAL NOTES Don’t forget! The DuBow Digest website is at http://www.dubowdigest.typepad.com/ (http://www.dubowdigest.typepad.com/) You will be able to read the American edition on the website. In looking over what I have included in this issue, it occurs to me that not all of it pertains directly to Germany. In putting this, or any edition together, my main goal is to focus on things with an American Jewish - German connection. However, a secondary goal is to provide you, German connection or not, with news about the major issues facing American Jewry. There are times when German - Jewish matters are not front and center in the news. Therefore, you'll get more of the latter than of the former. Klar? See you in May.