This weekend I’m headed to Germany at the invitation of the German Foreign
Office and the German Consulate in Boston, to learn about contemporary Jewish life in the country. As part of a
group of twenty Jewish communal leaders from around the world, I’ll have the opportunity to meet with scholars, journalists and clergy, as well as civic and community leaders, in an effort
to get as holistic a view as possible of the country today. Or at least the
best sense one can get in 7 days – but looking at the itinerary, which includes
opportunities to explore both Berlin and Frankfurt, experiencing cultural and
historic sites, it looks like the organizers of the trip are focused on providing
a wide range of opportunities to see the country from many different angles.
When I first learned that this trip might be a possibility I
spent a good deal of time thinking about how to prepare for it – whether I
should look for a good history of the country, talk to others who had been
there, etc. in the end I settled on reading the World section of the New York
Times to see the latest news on what’s happening in the country and at the recommendation
of the former director of AJC in Boston, I ordered a copy of an interesting book
called “The Germans” by Gordon A. Craig, which offers a succinct, erudite
overview of various aspects of German history and culture.
One idea in this book that really caught my
attention was Craig’s suggestion that the mass trauma inflicted by the 30 Years
War (in the mid-17th century) was passed down from one generation to
the next, finding perhaps its most horrific expression in the sense of
obedience to central authority that abetted the rise of Hitler and the Third
Reich. Another really fascinating aspect of the book was its exploration of how
the German people themselves dealt with this inclination toward obedience following
World War Two and the ways in which it influenced their sense of national
identity, attitudes toward the military and ideas about political reform. I
also spoke with friends who had visited Berlin in the last few years who talked
non-stop about the vibrancy of the city as a major center of cultural and
artistic creativity.
As I finish packing there are any number of thoughts going
through my mind about what it will be like to actually be there and what I will
learn from the local people, as well as our tour guides and my fellow
participants. I’m also looking forward to having some time during the week to
pause and reflect about what I’m learning and seeing, although I imagine that
with such a packed schedule the bulk of my reflection will come once I am back
in the United States. In 2015 the temptation also exists to retreat into smart
phones and other electronic devices, something which I plan to try and avoid –
I’ll be sharing some thoughts and photos via Twitter (@DanielELevenson) as the
week goes on, and I may post short pieces on this blog, but as much as possible I plan to
immerse myself in the experience and spend time absorbing everything around me.
Whenever I speak or write about Israel (the country other
than my own which I happen to know best) I am always reminded of the intense complexity
of the Jewish State and its people – so it is for other nation-states,
especially in the case of those which have entered the modern era with a
complicated and conflicted history, a category which clearly includes Germany. It is this
complicated past and the ways that Germans navigate their sense of individual
and communal identity today that fascinates me, something I look forward to sharing
my thoughts on here on 36 Voices.
Copyright Daniel E. Levenson 2015.
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