Jewish life in Germany: Forget your German clichés about Jews!

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Children in the Talmud Torah School in Hamburg: Being Jewish does not automatically mean being religious

Photo:

Daniel Bockwoldt/DPA

“Who gets the cheeseburger?” the waiter interrupted our lively conversation. “Me!” replies a friend of mine. Little by little our table fills up: a chicken burger without cheese, a burger with bacon, a plant-based burger. During the meal we talk about things that concern us: memories of Jewish events or holiday camps, Israel's current war against Hamas, anti-Semitism in Germany or developments in Jewish communities. Although our order might seem confusing to some people, we are all Jewish.

Contrary to popular belief, being Jewish does not automatically mean being religious. From a religious perspective, our orders are not kosher. Not even my plant-based burger, even though it's vegetarian. Because this shop we're sitting in doesn't have a kosher certificate. It's open on Saturdays, mixes dairy and meaty products and sells pork.

Kosher style

Even though I ordered a veggie burger, it doesn't mean I'm vegetarian. I would probably eat meat a little more often if there were more kosher options in Germany. It must have been eight or nine years since I only eat kosher meat.

Before that, I didn't eat pork, but I did eat the meat of kosher animals such as cattle or chickens - i.e. "kosher style", as this gap is called in Jewish communities. For me, this step was a consequence of coming to terms with Judaism, my religion. But does that make me religious?

In mid-December I had a long conversation with the author and theologian Stephan Anpalagan about religion, Christianity and Judaism. “Are you actually religious in any way?” he asked me. I started thinking. I've heard this question dozens of times. “For my family in Israel I look like a rabbi and for rabbis in Germany I probably do the minimum,” I replied.

Bar Mitzvah Cheerleader

While a rabbi is unlikely to sit in the bar with friends and drink cocktails after visiting the synagogue and the family Shabbat meal on Friday evening, I still appear "very religious" to my family in Israel.

And yet I am often described as religious by both Jews and people who are not Jewish, even though I have difficulty using this term myself. I would describe my family as traditional. I was born into one of the largest communities in Frankfurt am Main. We celebrated the holidays at home and in the synagogue, and on Shabbat I often accompanied my father to prayer.

I can still hear the sound of his voice speaking Yiddish to his friends. However, when our 1. FC Köln played, we went to the stadium on Shabbat rather than to the synagogue, so our priorities were clear, especially in the relegation battle. On no other day than at my Bar Mitzvah was the symbiosis between Judaism and 1. FC Köln so clear in my life. FC won 2-1 in Frankfurt and in the evening the club cheerleaders danced to Cologne songs at my party.

Living out Jewish religion and tradition is an integral part of my life. As a teenager I acquired theological knowledge on my own. At the age of 18 I read the entire Tanach and sought my own path. After my bar mitzvah, I started putting on the tefilin, traditional phylacteries. I say a few prayers every morning. In an interview with Deutschlandfunk I once compared it to a morning yoga session. It allows me to forget my hectic everyday life for a few minutes and creates a connection with Jewish history.

More than “the Jew”

For several years now I have rarely spoken publicly about the practice of my religion; this text is an exception. I want to be more than just “the Jew.” Jewish traditions are exoticized in Germany; they are not a natural part of film and pop culture, as they are in the USA.

Germans are often awkward when confronted with stories of Jewish life. Then sentences like this come up: “But you don’t look Jewish at all.” Quite a few people may have the image of an Orthodox Jew that has been promoted in the media: black suit or caftan, white shirt, black hat, yarmulke, long beard and sidelocks. I have to disappoint you: I don't look like that. I only wear the kippah on religious occasions such as prayer or going to synagogue. And my clothing style is based on the casual subculture of British football fans.

Nevertheless, I wear my religion (like many other Jews) to the outside world, I wear jewelry. The silver necklace with the Star of David and the silver bracelet with the Jewish creed “Shema Israel” are my everyday companions. In the Berlin subway I get questioning and even aggressive looks. Nobody has said anything yet. After the Hamas terrorist attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023, a second chain was added: a dog tag with the inscription “Bring them home – now!” He remembers the many hostages who are still in the hands of the terrorists.

Proudly Jewish

Jewish normality in Germany is much more diverse. For example, many of my friends who come from countries of the former Soviet Union came into contact with Jewish tradition in a roundabout way. In the Soviet Union, Judaism was suppressed; they only received Jewish knowledge in Germany, for example through the youth and leisure activities of the Central Welfare Office for Jews in Germany (ZWST).

The majority of Jews in this country live a secular life, celebrate the holidays like Christians celebrate Christmas, and only visit the synagogue on the Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur. A Chabad rabbi friend from Vienna who heads the student organization there once told me that his goal was not to turn the participants into religious people. They should be confident and proudly Jewish. I like this idea, it guides me especially in difficult times.