Synagogue congregation Hanukkah celebrations: “We Jews in Bonn are afraid”
Bonn · Police protection has been increased for the Hanukkah celebrations in the synagogue. Each participant in the Festival of Lights is being checked.
The many Hebrew voices singing the Hanukkah prayer resounded through the darkened synagogue. Some in the congregation, made up of numerous older members but also many families with children, looked at the sheets containing text transcribed in Cyrillic script. For some years now, almost 95 per cent of Bonn’s 1000 strong Jewish community has been made up of Jews originating from the states of the former Soviet Union.
Benjamin Pollack, the community’s youth coordinator, and several children lit the sixth candle of the large Hanukkah candelabra under the large star of David. “Let us show the world through our daily increasing number of lights, that we Jews are still there, after the Shoah and also after the religious oppression in the Soviet Union,” said Margaret Traub, who has worked tirelessly as the head of the community for 28 years.
All eight lights will be lit by Tuesday as part of the annual Jewish Hanukkah festival. “They are the symbol that the Jewish people have always had to defend themselves since the historic liberation of the Temple of Jerusalem,” explained Traub in her speech. Applause sounded from the synagogue.
Benjamin Pollack spoke of the positive message of the Festival of Lights, that with the lighting of more candles daily, there continued to be light against the heavy darkness in the world. “Our people’s past still haunts us today,” Pollack had previously told the GA in an interview. The great spiritual and historical achievement of the Jewish people over many centuries, which was to be destroyed through persecution, must also be carried on today.
A large police vehicle stood outside in front of the synagogue. Only those checked by the community got through the security barrier. Margaret Traub said they had asked for increased police protection for this Hanukkah Festival. “We Jews in Bonn are afraid,” she said against the background of the current anti-semitic incidents. There have been many repercussions to Donald Trump’s Jerusalem decision. On Saturday, there was also a demonstration against it in Bonn.
In the synagogue on Tempelstraße, the darkness of the evening slowly descended over the rows of singing people. The eight-branched candelabra stood tall at the front. Margaret Traub recalled that in 165 BC the re-consecration of the temple in Jerusalem symbolised that the Jewish faith would not let itself be extinguished. Afterwards, the people became more conscious of their faith than before. “So let’s celebrate with much joy.”
(Original text: Ebba Hagenberg-Miliu / Translated by Kate Carey)
