In the spirit of saying adieu, here are the top ten of the last year:

Oct. '10 - Home in Bexley, Ohio for the first time in a year

Oct '10: Sabina and Sarah join JDC and make work so much more fun. Here we are in February heading to a staff meeting in Freiburg.

Nov. '10 - Sarah and I venture 6 hrs by train to visit JSC fellow Jeremy in Warsaw. We saw the changing of the guards while touring the city one evening.

Dec. '10 - Celebrating my 24th birthday with great friends at Kimchi Princess Restaurant.

Dec '10/Jan '11 - Ringing in the New Year the best way possible. A Mexican dinner in Palm Beach with my sisters.

Feb '11: Exploring the abandoned Teufelsberg in Berlin

Mar. '11 - Instanbul with JDC!

Apr. '11 - Pesach seder for young adults sponsored by JDC

May '11 - Babysitting Chucky for a week. We still miss him!

May '11 - Last year Amsterdam, this year Stockholm. Always an amazing trip when travelling with Sofie!

In an effort to increase cultural events for young Jewish adults in Berlin, my friends and I hosted a Lag BaOmer Barbeque last night, with help from JDC and also from Jung und Jüdisch, an organization of the Liberal movement that organizes events for young Jewish adults in cities all over Germany.

There are several meanings attributed to the holiday Lag BaOmer, although many people simply view the holiday as an excuse to celebrate. We modified the holiday tradition of building a bonfire by instead safely grilling in Görlitzer Park in Kreuzberg, Berlin.

When we arrived to set up, the grilling area was filled with Turkish families. But as the sky grew darker, most of the families headed home, and our guests arrived with food and drink to share. Since yesterday was Saturday, Jung und Jüdisch led a beautiful Havdala as the sun set. Bringing the JDC Berlin and Jung und Jüdisch networks together proved to be very successful, and the celebration continued late into the night.

Returning home after our Seder in Berlin to Columbus, Ohio, where numerous mainstream grocery stores have aisles dedicated to Pesach food (getting Matzah and kosher for Pesach goods in Berlin was a total operation in itself!) and a family that stems from a long, unbroken chain of Jewish tradition, I felt incredibly grateful. Grateful for growing up in a strong Jewish community and family. But also grateful for the opportunity to celebrate in Berlin with peers who didn’t come from such a community or family, but are working to build that for the future. Their desire to bring to life the traditions that were lost in their own families and communities through decades of devastation and corruption is inspirational. Pesach is the perfect holiday to celebrate being Jewish, as we work toward liberating this community from its dark history.

Our host Dvora cracking walnuts for the charoset

our Seder Plate

homemade Pessach meal

From Istanbul to Berlin (Image from Kultur Projekte Berlin)

During the flight, I couldn’t sleep due to my excitement about the next few days. Would everything work out the way we planned? Would the participants have a good experience? As I fidgeted with my iPod, I looked over next to me on the plane to find Erica, JSC Fellow in Minsk, Belarus ’06-’07, reading the JDC  briefing packet on Germany.  She gave me a newspaper to read, which calmed my nerves.

Erica reads the briefing on Germany on our way to Berlin

We arrived late Wednesday night. We checked in at Hotel Amano, a wonderful hotel that only after booking, did I discover it was Jewish-owned. The next morning we drove to Bambinim Familyclub, a JDC project, where we heard from Marcelo, the Operations Director of The JDC International Centre for  Community Development, Tanya, who works with JDC in West Germany and Flora, the Director of Bambinim. It was interesting and also surreal to bring the group into our world, since I met them all in a different country only earlier that week. I showed them the video I made a year ago of Bambinim, which was a little embarrassing, to have the attention on me for a minute. But it also made me proud of myself and my colleagues, that we could share our work with a large, engaged group. During a break, Sarah surprised the group with her homemade Hamantaschen, a delicious reminder that Purim was just around the corner.

Tanya speaks with the group about the Jewish community in West Germany, and about her own experience emigrating from Moscow to Germany

After leaving Bambinim, we headed over to the Jewish Community building down the street for lunch at Gabriels, a kosher restaurant. Sandra and Mirjam, two community leaders joined us to answer questions about the issues facing to the Jewish community in Berlin. After lunch, we visited the Jewish Museum, and heard from Lev Libeskind, who represents The Task Force for International Cooperation on Holocaust Education, Remembrance, and Research and is also the son of the famous architect Daniel Libeskind, who designed the museum. He also gave us a unique perspective on The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, which we visited the following day.

Exploring the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe

In between our stimulating meetings with leaders of various prominent Jewish organizations operating in Berlin, the group got the opportunity to explore Berlin. One afternoon we spent in Mitte, and I led the group to the Brandenburg Gate, Unter den Linden, Checkpoint Charlie and to pieces of the Berlin Wall.

Several of us at Checkpoint Charlie *Photo from Perry Teicher

On Saturday, Thorsten gave us a tour of the old Jewish quarter. It was my third time doing the 2-hour tour, but it’s such a fascinating tour, I’m surprised by the same facts every time. Most of the tour is made up of not-so-visible parts, so it’s almost like a treasure hunt through a bustling part of Berlin.

Tour of the Old Jewish Quarter with our great guide Thorsten *Photo by Perry Teicher

The trip came to an end with the celebration of Purim, which I posted about earlier. I was so relieved that everything had worked out great, but I was more grateful for having the opportunity to showcase JDC’s work in Berlin and also to get to know such a genuinely nice and engaged group of active young adults. When I think back to last summer when I was asked to co-chair a trip with Perry and Naomi, it’s amazing to see how it came together in the end. Through the process, I learned a great deal about JDC’s work in the world, the Berlin and Istanbul Jewish communities and also made some wonderful, new friends.

No Istanbul-Berlin trip is complete without Döner! *Photo from Jonathan Goldstone

JSC Fellows from Ohio, in front of the Blue Mosque

This month, I co-chaired a trip to Istanbul, Turkey with 16 young Jewish adults living in the States to learn about the Turkish Jewish community. The trip was organized by the NextGen department of JDC. Unlike most of JDC short-term trips, which are usually for college students, the participants on this trip were either young professionals or in graduate school. Many participants were previously involved with JDC work. Some were Jewish Service Corps Fellows in placements such as Belarus and Ukraine and others had completed JDC short-term service trips in countries such as Argentina and Israel. Many others are now currently involved in Jewish community programs in the States, through fundraising and other Jewish orgs such as the Moishe House. Through this trip, which ended in Berlin on Sunday, we were exposed to a new perspective on Global Jewry in the Diaspora and given the opportunity to build a network among ourselves, sharing our considerable experience with Global Jewish life with one another.

Michelle, JSC Fellow, Bratislava, Slovakia '09-'10, and I checking out scarves at the Grand Bazaar

There are over 20,000 Jews living in Turkey today. The majority of Turkish Jews live in the city of Istanbul, the only city in the world that sits on two continents: Europe and Asia. Unlike the Jewish community of Germany, the Jewish community of Turkey is shrinking: emigrating; making Aliyah; disassociating; and aging.

However, Jewish life in Istanbul is vibrant despite being a tiny religious minority. There is a Jewish school, hospital, elderly home, youth center and synagogues. Unlike the States, the Jewish community functions on a system of volunteerism. Almost all of the community organizers we met were volunteers who are also balancing demanding careers. For example, Tuna, who develops Jewish youth leadership programs, is a dentist.

Speaking with Ami, Director of JDC Turkey and a local volunteer at the Jewish elderly home

More Jewish Ohio-JDC connections! Garden of the gorgeous Jewish elderly home, where I am now seriously considering retiring myself!

The view from Or Haayim, the Jewish hospital

Providing work for the disabled: A commercial laundry project for mentally disabled young adults that opened in Istanbul in early 2010 receives funding from JDC and the local Jewish community.

Ami, Director of JDC Turkey and Egypt, who has developed strong friendships and partnerships in the community although he is based in Israel, gave us a great tour of the community. Ami does not speak Turkish, but all of the leaders of the community speak Hebrew and/or English, too. My favorite part of the trip was speaking with the Chief Rabbi of Turkey Izak Haleva. He spoke in Hebrew, and Ami translated. The Rabbi explained that he has very good relationships with Turkish religious leaders from other faith traditions.

Roaming the streets of Istanbul for Turkish Coffee and Roasted Nuts

Like everyone on the trip, I was not just excited to learn about the Turkish Jewish community, but to also experience Turkish culture in Istanbul! Berlin has the largest Turkish population of any city in the world outside Turkey. In Berlin, I live in one of the most densely populated Turkish areas. On my street, there is a Turkish Market twice a week and we have many Turkish restaurants and fabric stores. I almost had zero culture shock in Turkey because I’m so used to seeing Turkish writing, hearing Turkish and eating Turkish food. I joked that the real culture shock was being around so many Americans again – my gosh, are we loud! And now that I’m back in Berlin, it’s wonderful to talk to all the Turkish Germans about my experience in Istanbul.

On our last night in Istanbul, the Jewish youth center welcomed us for dinner. We were able to talk with many of our peers and enjoy a delicious Turkish feast!

With our Jewish Turkish peers at their youth center on our last night in Istanbul

The next day we flew to Berlin together, where the wonderful 2nd part of our experience awaited us – which I can hardly wait to share in my next post!

Thursday evening, die Jüdische Filmreihe (Jewish Film Series for young adults) got a makeover. Since September 2010, each monthly Filmabend has been held in the Bambinim Familyclub center in the Charlottenburg district. The center is beautiful and cozy, but with toys and kid paintings abound, I wanted to bring the group to a more sophisticated location. My friend Micha and I found a great bar in Prenzlauer Berg, in the East.  In their basement, they have plenty of big cozy couches and a projector screen. The owner was happy to host us, even letting us use the basement Thursday night for free. In return, we hoped around 15-20 people would come and buy some beers. I couldn’t advertise due to the limits of our “Waltz with Bashir” license, which prohibits any public advertising. But despite this limitation, over 30 people attended!: The original “core” members of the film club, from the Bambinim days; some good friends of mine; and plenty of new faces. As always, Americans, Israelis, Russians, Germans and more.

Still from "Waltz with Bashir"

Sarah and I led an interesting discussion afterward about how the art direction of the film affects the perspective of the Lebanon War and of the Sabra and Shatila Massacre. Of course, the political conversation could not be avoided, and many guests stayed longer and spoke in smaller circles about their personal experiences and feelings about the IDF. Lightening the mood a bit, one guest invited everyone to Shabbat dinner and another guest handed out her business cards advertising special Israeli baked goods. It was only shortly before midnight when the remaining guests packed up and left. Despite, or because of the multiculti group, no cliques were born and everyone interacted with one another, switching languages every so often, as needed. There is a strong desire here to come together, especially through informal, pluralistic programs that celebrate Jewish culture. On my way out, the bar owner gave me a smile and a bone-crushing hand shake, agreeing to do this again next month.

My grandparents grew up speaking Yiddish in Khust, Czechoslovakia (now Ukraine) and passed it on to my father, as well. My generation for the most part does not speak nor understand Yiddish. Dr. Starck believes our generation will need Yiddish in order to understand the cultural and historical documents of our recent Jewish past, which were often written in Yiddish. She recommended different modern sources that allow anyone to learn or practice Yiddish today such as The Yiddish Book Center in Amherst, MA, a project digitalized thanks to a donation from Steven Spielberg. Perhaps, as I continue with German and improve the speed at which I read Hebrew, it’s something I could attempt in the future…

As the discussion came to an end, the local cantor Moshe Hayoun came forward and sang a beautiful Yiddish song.

Lyrics:
In dem beys hamikdash
In a vinkl kheyder
Zitzt di almone Bas Zion aleyn.
Ir ben yokhidl Yidele
Vigt zi keseyder
Un zingt im tzu shlofn a lidele sheyn: ay-lu-lu…

Unter Yidele’s vigele
Shteyt a klor vayse tzigele
Dos tzigele is geforn handlen
Dos vet zayn dayn baruf,
Rozhinkes mit mandlen
Shlof zhe Yidele, shlof.

Translation:

In the temple, in the corner of a chamber,
The widow The Daughter of Zion is sitting all alone.
As she rocks her only son Yidele to sleep,
She sings him a pretty song, a lullaby.

Under Yidele’s cradle, there stands a snow-white kid
that has been to market.
It will be your calling, too -
Trading in raisins and almonds,
And now sleep, Yidele, sleep.

Photo by Sarah Goldenstein

JDC: In Service, a blog that covers JDC Short Term Service projects around the world, recently shared a photo blog, that Sarah and I put together. Check it out!: Celebrating Tu B’Shvat with Bambinim Familyclub in Berlin