An elderly lady sits lonely on a sunny autumn morning in the synagogue of the Chabad community on Münsterschen Strasse in Wilmersdorf. She keeps her head bowed forward. Her long white hair falls over her shoulder. She prays. From outside, children’s laughter and construction noise mix. Jewish life in Berlin, as natural as if it were somewhere in the world. This development is made possible by the Chabad community, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. In fact, Rabbi Yehuda Teichtal came to Berlin from New York 26 years ago. He had never been here before. He came as one of the many Lubavitch ambassadors (schluchim) sent all over the world by the Hasidic movement led by Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson – to provide a spiritual home for Jews all over the world, with a very strong social focus. Scheerson, the “Rebbe”, fled to New York via Paris in 1941.
He was born in Nikolajew, Ukraine, in 1902. He moved to Berlin, where, in addition to his spiritual activities, he studied mathematics and natural sciences. In 1933 he and his wife had to leave the city after the National Socialists took power. In New York in 1950 he followed his father-in-law as spiritual leader and teacher of the Lubavitch movement.
The movement, which was almost completely wiped out in the Shoah, began to grow again. Today well over a million people are active worldwide, 20,000 of them in Berlin. The church is open to all who want to come. The social character of the movement can also be felt in the Berlin community, as well as a certain cheerfulness and a strong sense of tolerance and dialogue. Yehuda Teichtal on the role of the Rebbe in Chabad’s self-image: “After the Second World War, the Jews of Europe were largely discouraged and desperate. The Rebbe inspired her with his message of selfless love and continues to do so to this day. His legacy and influence live on, even though he has not been alive for 27 years. “
“We wanted to go to Germany”
For Yehuda Teichtal and his wife Leah it was an adventure to go to Germany of all places. The Lubavitchers had long hesitated whether they should even go back to the land of the murderers of their families. In New York, Jews refused to buy washing machines from German manufacturers until the 1990s, tell the children from families that have long since found a home in Berlin.
For the young Yehuda Teichtal it was a trip to an unknown country. He traveled to the German capital with a one-way ticket in 1996 – three years before the Bundestag packed its bags in Bonn and dared to move. He had no fear or doubts: “It wasn’t an obligation to go to Germany. On the contrary: we wanted to. My wife and I knew that when the Soviet Union collapsed, many Jews were about to immigrate to Germany. They knew little to nothing about their Jewish heritage because religion was forbidden among the socialists. This was our chance to do something good and to catch them. And another reason played a role: We wanted to bring light and Jewish life back to the place that had been a place of darkness for so long. “
Teichtal really started from scratch in Berlin: The first apartment was on Pariser Strasse in Willmersdorf. The rabbi today: “It was difficult. We didn’t know anyone. Not the language, not the people here. But then we got to know one after the other people. Went to events, were introduced to other people, invited to Shabbat or were invited. One resulted in the next. We built our church from the bottom up – very personally. ”
Teichtal offers immigrants a home
Teichtal is considered a legendary communicator who approaches people without the slightest hesitation. He considered which group would be suitable for a new congregation, which Jews did not yet have a place in the city. And he found the Jews who immigrated from Eastern Europe: They came from Russia, Ukraine, Lithuania, Latvia, Georgia, Belarus and Azerbaijan in the 1990s. Teichtal now also speaks Russian, but speaks to many of the elderly in Yiddish – a language that is dying out, but which has now regained cult status. Today people from many other countries are regularly active in the church.
Teichtal’s approach is to offer immigrants a home, a place where they can directly experience the social dimension of a community. The religious is not in the foreground. There is a climate of tolerance. There are initiatives to conduct an interfaith dialogue. Same-sex couples are also welcome. In kindergarten and schools there are pupils from all countries and from different backgrounds. The team is unusually diverse and feminine.
The dynamism of the church is remarkable. In 2001, a piece of land for the synagogue and the Jewish education center was initially leased and now bought. The house was inaugurated in 2007. Yehuda Teichtal: “It was the first Jewish center in Germany that was mainly financed by donations. So again from the bottom up. The people here wanted us, trusted us and supported us. And it was a signal for the future in Germany: Who builds, stays! “
“25 years of Chabad Berlin are not an anniversary, they are a beginning”
What is the best, what is the worst memory from 25 years of Chabad Berlin? Teichtal says the best thing is to see how people’s lives are enriched. A highlight in the history of Chabad is the now traditional Hanukkah celebration at the Brandenburg Gate. Teichtal: “To hold this event where there were Nazi flags and Nazi symbols in 1936 is always very emotional.” In this context, Teichtal pays tribute to the former governing mayor, Klaus Wowereit, saying that he is “always a source of encouragement.” ” been. The anti-Semitic incidents are bad, and Teichtal itself was also affected. However, the barbarians cannot discourage him: “Despite everything, we always want to remain positive. Just as the Rebbe taught us. “
Teichtal is therefore also confident about the future: “25 years of Chabad Berlin are not an anniversary, they are a beginning.” The rabbi, whose son Dovid joined the community’s youth work, knows that Chabad’s success can only be achieved with teamwork was: “Two of us started in a living room. Today we have five synagogues, two daycare centers, a primary school and a high school. We have a center for Israeli Berlin visitors and one for students and young adults. In the coming year we will open the first Jewish campus in Germany, where we will then offer education, culture and sports for all ages. None of this would have been possible without the people in our community. “