EDJC 2021 > Germany > Renewal; Continuity: Biografies from the Rhein-Hunsrück-Region

Renewal; Continuity: Biografies from the Rhein-Hunsrück-Region

The former Laufersweiler synagogue is one of the few remaining synagogue buildings in the region that is still recognizable as such today and is used as a place of learning and remembrance. Along with the Jewish cemeteries, this is one of the rare testimonies of rural Jewish life in the Hunsrück region and refers to the long Jewish tradition along the Rhine. As early as 1700, isolated families settled in the countryside and integrated themselves into village social and economic life. Numerous stories tell of this life, which have been researched in the past decades and are accessible today in the synagogue in Laufersweiler. On the occasion of the "European Days of Jewish Culture" under the motto "Renewal", the former Laufersweiler synagogue is presenting a special exhibition with Jewish biographies from the Rhine-Hunsrück region. How are new beginnings and continuity reflected in the individual life stories? Among others, the biography of Edmund Scheuer is shown: Growing up as the son of a Torah writer in the traditional community of Thalfang, he spread his reformist ideas in Canada at the end of the 19th century, redesigned services and the religious school of his community, and committed to interfaith cooperation. / Henriette Gerson was one of the first women to become a member of the town council in Oberwesel in the 1920s. Her grandson Alfred Gottschalk, a Reform rabbi in the U.S., ordained the first female rabbi in 1972. / Richard Hirsch survived the Auschwitz concentration camp. After liberation, he initially returned to his hometown of Kastellaun, married and founded a transportation company before emigration to the U.S. seemed inevitable to him as a chance for a new beginning. In very different ways, renewal, tradition and breaking points work in and out of their biographies. Public tours will be offered throughout the day. Tours will be free of charge, registration is not required. The exhibition can also be visited in the following weeks by appointment. Picture: Gottschalk family in Oberwesel. Henriette Gerson (front left) and Alfred Gottschalk as a little boy (standing in the middle) around 1937.

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Date

04 September 2022

Time

12:00 PM – 04:00 PM

Location

Kirchgasse 6
Laufersweiler
55487
Germany

Organizer

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