On our 4th day we learned about Modern Germany. The discussion started with learning how Germany rebuilt as a nation after the war, led by one of leaders of Action Reconciliation Service for Peace. This organization was founded as early as 1958 to foster peace and atonement through volunteer social work in 13 countries, drawing nearly 180 German volunteers each year. In fact, our groups’ guides volunteered at a Jewish Home for the Elderly in Israel for a year after high school graduation, sharing with us how honored they felt to bond with the Holocaust survivors.
Then we met with a diverse panel of Berliners sharing their viewpoints on current Jewish life, ranging from an academic studying Jewish-Muslim relations, to a young activist who founded a Jewish student union at her university campus, to an Israeli-born journalist. Their views on present and future Jewish life in Germany varied, from critical and worried to optimistic and energetic.
We then met leaders of 2 grassroots organizations. The first aimed at establishment of intercultural dialogue to shape political landscape at a local level, and a second to provide one-on-one tutoring of elementary and high school students from Muslim immigrant communities by Jewish volunteers. The goal of both of these groups is to connect people of different religions over commonalities and humanity to fight anti-Semitism.
We concluded the day at a bustling biergarten mingling with young Germans sharing everyday stories and laughing together.
Anna lives in San Francisco, CA.