“Whoever thought that the Holocaust succeeded in uprooting Judaism in Germany today receives the Jewish answer, the light will always win”
Four years after the laying of the first stone, the largest Jewish study complex built in Germany since the Holocaust is about to be inaugurated. A strong symbol, in a city strongly marked by the history of the 20th century and the trauma of the Shoah.
The project, which is called Pears Jewish Campus, was conceived 16 years ago by Chabad Rabbi Yehuda Teichtal. Born in New York, Teichtal has been active in Berlin’s Chabad community for two decades. The latter contributed to the city’s Chabad-Lubavitch Orthodox Center project.
“Not only has Judaism not been uprooted, but it is thriving on an enormous scale,” the rabbi said recently.
7 floors, 8,000 square meters
Built in the heart of Berlin, in the Charlottenburg district, the Pears Jewish Campus is located on the outskirts of the Chabad Lubavitch center in Berlin. The complex, designed by the architectural firm Tchoban Voss, has a crèche, a nursery, a mikveh and a school. A large space will also be dedicated to a cultural and worship center for the Jewish community.
In an interview with Deutsche Welle in 2018, Teichtal spoke of his vision of an “intercultural” project “open to everyone, regardless of their religious affiliations”. The existing educational center had already been designed at the time as a dynamic meeting point open to the city.
The project, estimated at around 18 million euros, was largely subsidized by the German federal government and the Land of Berlin, which provided two-thirds of the sum. The UK-based Pears Family Foundation will be the ongoing sponsor of the center’s research and education programs. Senior German government officials as well as representatives of local and national Judaism will be present at the upcoming inauguration of the campus.
This article is originally published on i24news.tv
