by Eric Meyers
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Duke in Berlin: A Jewish Studies Component
For the first time in a number of years the Duke-Rutgers Program in Berlin featured a course on “Jewish Berlin” from May 18 to June 30, 2012. The course was co-taught by me and Emma Woelk, a PhD candidate in German Studies who is also a Nathan Perilman Fellow in Jewish Studies. The course emphasized the unique way Germany has memorialized its Jewish past and hence many class visits focused on the local memorials to German Jewry’s distinguished history. 10 students were enrolled and I can assure you they had an extraordinary experience in a unique city where it is impossible to ignore the tremendous legacy of Jewish history and its stamp on Germany and on Berlin in particular. The course just so happened to coincide with the 250th anniversary of the birth of Moses Mendelssohn, father of the Jewish Enlightenment (Haskalah), and the 200th anniversary of the Prussian Cabinet Decree leading to Jewish emancipation. Because of these special dates and other other considerations the cantors of the United States were having their annual convention in Berlin and celebrated these events with three concerts and a public Shabbat service in the great Konzerthaus of the former GDR. Needless to say yours truly attended and was deeply moved by the experience. We hope to continue our support of this program in the future.