Welcome to the Jewish Congregation of Hamelin

Deutsch

	In the News: WUPJ News, Thursday, June 30, 2011:  “First Bar Mitzvah in New Hameln Synagogue” WUPJ News, Thursday, May 05, 2011:  “New Hameln Synagogue Holds First Pesach Seder” Rebekka’s CD Shabbat Melodies in the News: Dewezet, December 17, 2009: “Shabbat Melodies: A CD for the Synagogue” See more information below. Construction on the new synagogue is nearly complete! See the progress!  Go to the Architect’s Diary (slide show).

	Donations for our congregational work and synagogue building are gratefully accepted by credit card through PayPal. Click the PayPal button on the left to go to JGH’s secure page at PayPal and enter the amount of your donation. Please accompany your donation with an e-mail message to racheldohme@jghreform.org, informing us of your donation so that we may recognize your gift in our next newsletter.

Hamelin (Hameln), Germany is best known as the home of the famous “Pied Piper” and of Glückel of Hameln, the Jewish female chronicler of daily life in mid-17th–early 18th century Germany. The town supported a small but vibrant Jewish community for over 400 years until Kristallnacht, when the synagogue was destroyed and the Jewish population decimated.

Jüdische Gemeinde Hameln, the Reform Jewish Community of Hamelin, founded in 1997 by Rachel Dohme and a small group of Russian immigrants, is the first organized Jewish community to be established in Hamelin since the Shoah. The congregation has grown to include over 200 congregants, almost all of whom are recent Russian Jewish émigrés. JGH is a member of the Union of Progressive Jews in Germany, the World Union of Progressive Judaism, and the Central Council of Jews of Germany. Close working relationships with the local government, cultural and church groups, and the Society for Christian-Jewish Solidarity have contributed to the congregation’s success.

JGH is a dynamic congregation that has made important strides in revitalizing Jewish life in Hamelin. In 1999 the congregation was successful in having Hamelin’s historic Jewish cemetery, desecrated during WWII, reopended for use. A new, larger Jewish community cemetery, administrated by the city, was dedicated in November 2001. The community has just completed the first newly constructed Reform synagogue in post-war Germany. The synagogue stands on the very ground the town’s synagogue stood until its destruction on November 9, 1938. The new synagogue was dedicated on February 20, 2011.

Photos from the Synagogue Dedication, February 20, 2011 Photos © Adrian Michael Schell ~ Hold mouse over images to pause slide show.

Jüdische Gemeinde Hameln offers a wide range of religious and social services, including holiday celebrations, Shabbat observance, life cycle officiation, a basic course in Judaism offered in Russian, a religious school, adult education, a Jewish music group, German language classes, and various cultural activities. In the summer of 1999 a Jewish summer camp sponsored by the congregation served all liberal communities in Germany. In addition, non-German-speaking members are given assistance in dealing with medical and other appointments as needed. JGH also sponsors a Chevra Kaddishah (Burial Society).

JGH does not yet have its own full time rabbi, but the congregation receives monthly visits from Rabbi Irit Shillor, and rabbinical students from the Abraham Geiger Seminary fulfill internships with us. Rabbi Arnold Zoref and Rabbi Jo David visited the community in 2000 and provided many new experiences for the congregants.

Shabbat Melodies by Rebekka Dohme We are pleased to announce that Shabbat Melodies, the first CD by our young cantor, Rebekka Dohme, has been released. The CD has Shabbat melodies from the Friday night and Saturday morning service. All money raised through the sale of the CD will go to our synagogue building project. Listen to a song from Shabbat Melodies, “Esai Enai—Psalm 121” (click arrow to begin): Audio Player 1 Download the CD liner booklet (German) (PDF) or CD liner booklet (English translation) (PDF) Shabbat Melodies is available to synagogues and other organizations in packages of 25. Write Rachel Dohme at racheldohme@jghreform.org.

This Web site is an important outreach vehicle to educate others about the special needs of German Jews and Russian Jewish immigrants in Germany. The congregation is beginning to raise money for its own needs with a new Tree of Life. We look forward to the future with hope. Contributions to the synagogue building fund can be made online.

For more information about the Jewish Community of Hamelin, contact Rachel Dohme: racheldohme@jghreform.org See also “The Jewish Community of Hameln” — a Special Report by Danya Mavor. Please support our community. A tax-deductible donation may be made through The Good People Fund.  Please select Tree of Life or JGH Building Fund.