The Jewish Community of Berlin has more than 12,000 members and is the largest Jewish community in Germany. The Jewish Community of Berlin provides a diversified infrastructure, which offers everything necessary for a Jewish life in Berlin. Information about events, reports about the work of the Community Board and Assembly of Representatives, as well as about general Jewish life in Berlin are published in the monthly community magazine “jüdisches Berlin” (Jewish Berlin).
Shabbat services are held in six community synagogues of different style, from orthodox to liberal. The community rabbis enable all ritual aspects. The kosher Restaurant “Arche Noah” is opened daily in the community center (Fasanenstraße 79/80).
The Jewish Community of Berlin offers a versatile cultural program. The Jüdische Volkshochschule (Center for Adult Education) organizes also for a non-Jewish audience, courses and lectures, as well as every year in June the Jewish Film Festival. A special highlight are the Jüdische Kulturtage (Jewish Culture Festival), which take place every November. The library in the community center of The Jewish Community of Berlin enjoys an international reputation.
One of the main tasks of The Jewish Community of Berlin is its social support for members in need, especially the integration of immigrants from the former Soviet Union, who today compose more than the half of the community members. A Jewish kindergarten, an elementary school, as well as a Jewish high school ensure the Jewish education of our children. Furthermore, activities for teenagers are offered in the Jugendzentrum (Center for Youth) and many other clubs.
A number of historical sites testify the history of The Jewish Community of Berlin. Special documents of Jewish life are the cemeteries in Weißensee and in Schönhauser Allee. The great “Neue Synagoge” in Oranienburger Straße 28–30, which used to be the symbol of Jews in Germany before the Shoah, is today a museum, named “Centrum Judaicum”, which tells the story of Berlin’s Jews. A Memorial Wall in the front court of the community center in Fasanenstraße 79/80 commemorates the vicitims of the Shoah.
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