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Yishai Fleisher Yishai Fleisher is the founder of , a grassroots pro-Aliyah organization, and a broadcaster at .
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By Yishai Fleisher
August 7, 2007
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Dear Rabbi Teichtal,
Recently your name has come into the headlines regarding the construction of an elaborate Jewish Center in Berlin that includes within it a 100 square meter replica of the Western Wall in Berlin. As I understand it, you are spearheading the project, at a cost of $6 million. I also read that 19 tons of Jerusalem stone has been shipped to Berlin for the construction of the wall, and that detailed photographs have been taken of the Kotel in order to make the replica as accurate as possible down to the plants sprouting from it.
I can understand why you may be taking on such a project. I guess you feel that by building a powerful Jewish landmark in Berlin, it will serve as a symbol of Jewish rebirth in Germany after the dreadful Holocaust. "This is a symbolic part of making Berlin a central hub of Jewish life again," you were quoted as saying.
Rabbi, I have much respect for the work that you do. Bringing Jews back to Judaism is truly G-d's work and I applaud your mesirut nefesh to live in Berlin and to be involved in the kehilla there. However, I feel it is my duty to dissuade you from continuing with your project of mimicking the Western Wall in Berlin.
The first reason why this project should not move forward is plain old decency. Whatever the cost of the wall is, even if it's one million dollars, it is wasted money on a gimmick. Jews all over the world need real help: from the rocket-rocked Jews of Sderot, to the poverty stricken Holocaust survivors, to the assimilation-plagued Jews of America and Europe who need free Jewish education to save them.
This "Berlin Wall" project reminds me of a certain spectacular Reform Synagogue that was being built in the forties on New York's 5th Avenue as Jews were being gassed in Germany. Going ahead with "Kotel pavilion" in Berlin at this time will send a message that Jews are wasting money on a extravagant projects, while they need to care for one another. I refuse to believe that the Lubavitcher Rebbe ZH'L would approve of building a miniature Kotel at this time.
Second, the very idea of a mini-Kotel cheapens and trivializes the real Kotel and Jerusalem. What are other examples of miniaturization of great monuments? In Las Vegas, casinos mimic the Taj Mahal, the Statue of Liberty and the Eiffel Tower. In Florida, Disney World's Epcot Center takes whole countries and miniaturizes them to fit a few city blocks. They do this for entertainment purposes, for money purposes.
Miniaturizing the Kotel is a similar schtick, but unlike those buildings, our Kotel is not a testament to man's great achievements in architecture or culture, rather the Kotel is a bitter reminder of the Jewish people's exile, and it is the place where countless tears have fallen in supplication to the L-rd. The Kotel is special precisely because it is the real thing and there is none like it. Exporting the Kotel experience will only dilute the original.
People have yearned for Jerusalem for two-millennia, but now the Kotel will be a franchise, a drive-thru -- imagine: "now you can get the same Kotel taste in Seoul, Berlin and New York".
A third reason not to build the wall is that Berlin has no business being a "central hub of Jewish life again." Berlin had its chance to be a Jewish hub and it blew it, big time. You were also quoted assaying that the faux-Kotel project "is a sign that people are putting their trust in the Jewish future of Germany." There is no future for a Jewish Germany -- that era is done! Those Jews who think that a Jewish community in Germany is a "sweet revenge" against Hitler are sadly mistaken.
A Jewish community in Germany is Hitler's revenge on us, because once again we choose exile over our real home, and thereby no learning the lessons of the Holocaust. For the first time in 2000 years, Jerusalem is getting a shot to be a Jewish hub and we need to strengthen our real Jerusalem and not throw Jewish money away on Berlin.
Finally, it is ironic that you, Rabbi Yehuda Teichtal, are a great grandson of Yissachar Shlomo Teichtal, the author of a famous book that called for the Jewish people to return en-masse to the land of Israel. He wrote his book in the midst of Shoah while hiding from Germans in Budapest. His end was the same as of the 6 million martyrs and your family still does not know where he is buried and when is his Yortzait. Rabbi Yissachar Shlomo Teichtal named his great work "Eim
Habanim Semeicha", the Mother of the Children is Joyous. For your great grandfather the Land of Israel was the Mother of the Jewish people, not Germany.
Your great-grandfather wrote:
"Realize this, O fellow Jew! From now on do not seek rest anywhere except by your true mother, Eretz Yirsael. Only our true mother will console us after all of the severe hardships that have befallen us, and after all of the pain that the stepmother has inflicted upon us...
Let us no longer put our faith in our stepmother and, thereby, remain in the lands of exile.
"How much money did our ancestors invest in these lands? They built palaces, castles, and great halls, because each one of them thought, "This is my resting place forever; here I will dwell, for I have desired it." (Tehillim 132:14) They completely disregarded their true mother, Eretz Yisrael... they neglect to establish the boundaries of the widow, our righteous mother who cries and laments over us.
"In this way, we lost hundreds and thousands of years in exile and gave all of our strength and wealth to our stepmother. And now, we 'merited' her expression of gratitude for all of the effort that we expended on her behalf. She took a staff and hit us cruelly and mercilessly. She wounded our entire body; from the sole of the foot to the head, there is nothing whole. She also banished us completely and took our money from us. We were forced to leave her house naked and indigent. Thousand and tens of thousands of our Jewish brethren died unnatural deaths at her hands.
"These are the deeds of our stepmother. Now, should we put our faith in her for the future and return to her once again? How can we be so sure that after a few decades she will not do this to us again? Indeed, we see that the Gentiles have treated us this way during every period of our history. But, we have yet to learn that we must no longer put our trust in the lands of exile. Therefore, my brothers and sisters, NO! NO! We will no longer return to our stepmother. Instead we will arise and go up to our true mother and devote all of our strengths to her, from now and forever, to build up her walls and repair her ruins." (Eim Habanim Semeichah Chapter 3, Section 36)
Recently, Israel's Bureau of Statistics released figures which show that there is a 50 percent rise in Israeli application for German citizenship. Germany is opening its arms to Jews, it seems. Who needs Israel with its terror, corruption, and taxes? Germany offers me a peaceful life, a thriving Jewish community, and our own little Jerusalem to boot. The mini-Kotel will be yet another marker showing Jews that Germany maybe a better option than Israel. Is this the message that Am Yisrael needs to be hearing today?
In light of the aforementioned reasons, and especially in light of your great-grandfather's words, I urge you to please rethink the project of mimicking the Kotel in Berlin and in its stead persuade good Jewish donors to use this money for the real benefit of our people.
Yishai Fleisher
Beit El
PS With regard to the 19 tons of stone that has already arrived in Germany -- do not worry about wasted money and effort -- the stones can be used to give comfort to the buried in the many Jewish cemeteries of Germany, or would make a nice memorial to the murdered at the German death camp Dachau.
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