Hundreds of members of the "Kehillat Adat Yisrael" community, along with young children holding flags, danced and celebrated with the Torah scroll and its canopy, right in the heart of Berlin. Rabbi Avichai Apel, Chairman of the German Rabbinical Council and Vice President of the Conference of European Rabbis, declared: "The scrolls burn, but the letters remain in the air."Hundreds of members of the Torah-observant community "Kehillat Adat Yisrael" in Berlin, led by Rabbi Avichai Apel, Chairman of the German Rabbinical Council, Vice President of the Conference of European Rabbis, and Rabbi of Frankfurt, along with the community’s rabbi, Rabbi David Roberts, Germany’s Chief Military Rabbi and Rabbi of Leipzig, Rabbi Mordechai Bala – all members of the permanent committee of the Conference of European Rabbis – and other German rabbis, participated in the Torah dedication ceremony. The event also included the heads and students of the "Beit Zion" Torah institutions and the Rabbinical Seminary, leaders and members of the Jewish community of Berlin, and guests from across Germany and Israel. Among the distinguished attendees were Rabbi Yitzchak Ehrenberg, the German Minister of Culture, the Israeli Ambassador, and key figures from the Conference of European Rabbis, including CEO Gadi Gronich and Secretary General Rabbi Aharon Shmuel Baskin.The Torah scroll was brought through the streets of Berlin and into the "Kehillat Adat Yisrael" synagogue, housed in the historic "Beit Zion" synagogue, which survived Kristallnacht.Rabbi Avichai Apel said at the ceremony, held in central Berlin: "Here, the words of Rabbi Chanina ben Teradyon are fulfilled: 'The scrolls are burning, but the letters fly in the air.' We are completing the writing of a Torah scroll in the heart of Berlin, in Bebelplatz, the same location where 70,000 holy books were burned by Nazi 'academics' and students in 1933. The Torah is being brought to the holy ark of 'Beit Zion,' a synagogue that survived Kristallnacht and now serves a thriving community rising from the ashes on German soil. We must also give thanks to all who took part in making this historic event possible, including the Berlin community led by Dr. Gideon Jaffe, the Conference of German Rabbis, the Conference of European Rabbis, and especially the efforts of Mr. Avi Tuviana."It was a moving and historic scene in the streets of Berlin, unlike anything witnessed since World War II. Hundreds of community members, rabbis, students, and about 200 children from the community's Torah institutions, joyfully danced with the Torah scroll and its canopy. The celebration took place in central Berlin, passing landmarks like Alexanderplatz, Unter den Linden, and Tucholskystrasse, where copper plaques embedded in the sidewalks memorialize the Jewish families who were deported and murdered, with their names and the dates of their deaths engraved.
Berlin's police and security forces closed off entire streets to secure the procession, which continued until reaching Brunnenstrasse, one of the city's main thoroughfares. The spectacle was awe-inspiring, with hundreds rejoicing in the Torah’s celebration. Neighbors looked on from their windows, and hundreds of curious onlookers responded with amazement.The Rabbinical Seminary of Berlin, along with its associated community, was founded nearly 150 years ago by the great Rabbi Azriel Hildesheimer zt"l. During its years of operation, the seminary trained hundreds of students, many of whom went on to serve as rabbis and Torah teachers in Jewish communities worldwide. The seminary functioned until Kristallnacht.
This article was written in cooperation with Shuva Israel