Speech at the reception to present the program “Germany close up: American Jews meet modern Germany” at the residence, New York, January 23, 2008

Ladies and Gentlemen, friends,
Participants of the new program Germany Close up,

The American essayist and poet Ralph Waldo Emerson once said: “The ornament of a house is the friends who frequent it”. This is already one perfect reason to welcome you here tonight. Let me nevertheless give you three more reasons for tonight’s celebration:

First of all, I regret that only some of you, of the Jewish Community, could celebrate with us the day of German Unity on Ocober 3rd. Somehow this date quite regularly happens to fall on a Jewish Holliday. Last year it was Sukkoth, this year it will be a Friday night. Therefore we decided to celebrate a second so called 3rd of October in January. This has already become a tradition as we had similar get togethers in previous years. Thus, this evening shall give us the opportunity to foster our relations and to update our knowledge about each other.

The second reason is that there are important developments to celebrate in German-Jewish as well as in German-Jewish-American relations and all of you contributed in one way or another to make these relations what they are today: close, diverse, vital and based on trust. Let me give you some examples of developments and events that filled this friendship with life during the last year:

There are some new visible signs of revitalized Jewish Life in Germany: New Synagogues were inaugurated in Munich alongside to a new Jewish Museum, in Bochum, Braunschweig and other places. The beautiful Synagogue in Ryke Straße in Berlin was finally reopened after years of restoration. This building symbolizes in a unique way the history of the Jewish population in Berlin in particular and in Germany in general. Thus, it is even more important that it is now once again a lively religious and social centre in the middle of Berlin. Another new and vibrant meeting point is the Chabad Lubavich Community Centre in Berlin Wilmersdorf.
However, we will always have to and want to look also in the past. Therefore it is very important to mention in this context that Foreign Minister Steinmeier will open the Permanent Secretariat of the International Task Force for Holocaust Remembrance on March 11 – in Berlin. The Task Force for International Cooperation in Holocaust Education, Remembrance and Research consists of representatives of governments as well as governmental and non-governmental organizations. The offices of the task force will be on the premises of the Topographie of Terror Foundation.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Jewish Culture is more and more visible in German cities. Jewish Film Festivals and Jewish Cultural Days like for example in Berlin, where German pop and hip hop stars lend their voice to the poems of a teenage holocaust victim, help to understand a culture still unknown to many young Germans.

Here in New York our relationship has also been filled with life in many different areas: Chancellor Merkel, Foreign Minister Steinmeier and many other politicians met with representatives of Jewish Organisations and Jewish Communities for discussions. The Leo Baeck Institute organised excellent programs as it has done since many years. Just yesterday some of us heard Ambassador Shimon Stein speaking in the Leo Baeck Institute about his experiences as Ambassador of Israel in Germany. So let me use this opportunity to thank Carol Kahn Strauss and her team for their continuing efforts to save the heritage of German-speaking Jewry for future generations.

It is my firm conviction that personal contacts and friendships are the most crucial ingredients for these trustful relations and our mutual understanding. Therefore, I am grateful that we have some vivid German-American-Jewish exchange programs that facilitate these personal contacts especially among young people. The first program in this area was the exchange between the American Jewish Committee and the Konrad Adenauer Foundation which will celebrate its 30th anniversary in 2010. The result of these programs are hundreds of Ambassadors of German-Jewish relations on both sides of the Atlantic. But there are also local exchanges, like the one between a school in Berlin and Jewish Communities in Long Island facilitated by NABOR, it is now in its 8th year of existence. In just a few days the next group of pupils from Berlin will come to Long Island.

This brings me to the third and probably the best and most concrete reason that has united us tonight. We want to present a new ingredient to the German-Jewish-American Relations - the new program Germany Close up! American Jews Meet Modern Germany. Maybe some of you have already tried to find something about this program online. However, this program is so new that it is not even online. Of course it will be very soon. Instead of a long preparation period the program had a jump start. Only 4 weeks after the director of the program Dr. Dagmar Pruin who is also here tonight took up her assignment, the first two groups of young Americans travelled to Berlin. Two of these first-time adventurers of Germany close up will share their impressions with you in some moments.

Germany close up aims to provide young American Jews with an opportunity to seek out their own personal contacts with Germans from all walks of life. Apart from getting a glimpse of modern Germany, participants will meet members of German parliament and Jewish communities, historians and officials, and even more important young Germans to discuss history as well as current topics and future challenges. Germany close up is not designed for just one community, just one organisation or just one university or college. We want all of you to be our partners of this program in America. It invites young American Jews from all over, not only NYC. We are looking forward to hearing your ideas and suggestions. You will find more information on the program on the flyer in the Lobby. And please use the opportunity to speak with Ms. Pruin.

I am very happy that several of the first Alumni of this program are joining us tonight. We hope that this journey to Germany will be a starting point with regard to your relationship to Germany. We want to give you the opportunity to stay in touch with Germany and also meet young Germans here in New York. Therefore we also invited tonight some DAAD stipendiary who are currently studying in New York. So I encourage especially our young guests to get in touch. And of course you will always be most welcome to our cultural events in the German House and in the Goethe Institute.

After the remarks from our two young Germany close up participants I invite you to enjoy the buffet next door where we have several tables with food according to the different dietary wishes and rules.

I wish you all a wonderful evening and give the floor to Yona Shem Tov and Ruth Glenn.
Thank you!