Group of German Jews Seeks More Liberal Form of Judaism

Fed up with what they say is a traditional, rigid and non-spiritual service offered by the mainstream Jewish community, a group of Frankfurt Jews has established an alternative congregation that offers services, discussions and the chance for both sexes to participate.

Some of the founding members of Kehilah Chadashah, or New Congregation, say they are also contemplating a separation from the Jewish community to form a communal organization of their own — a move that was criticized by Ignatz Bubis, chairman of the Central Council of Jews in Germany and a leading member of the Frankfurt community.

“When Germany had 600,000 Jews (before World War II), various communities were possible,” Bubis said in a telephone interview. It was Germany that gave birth to Reform Judaism in the 19th century.

“I don’t think this is possible with 43,000 Jews. It can’t lead to anything good.”

The members of Kehilah Chadashah currently see their group as an alternative, not a challenge to the traditional Jewish communal organization in Germany. But given their desire to move toward liberal-style services such as are found in the United States, some of the members feel a break from the community could well come soon.

MORE EGALITARIAN APPROACH SOUGHT

Members of the new congregation complain that traditional German services are too formal and are often difficult to follow. They also seek a more egalitarian service than is offered in German synagogues, where men and women sit separately and where women rarely get the chance to participate in the service.

“Snobbishness is another factor,” said Steve Riegelhaupt, a 41-year-old computer expert from Long Island who has lived in Germany for 12 years. Formerly a member of the North Shore Jewish Center in Sautucket, N.Y., he currently lives in nearby Wiesbaden and is also a member of the traditional community there.

He noted that there are Jews who feel alienated from the existing religious offerings and are looking for an alternative.

“My concern is that Jewish life in Germany is very rigid,” he said.

But while Bubis said he personally has a certain sympathy for a liberal service, the establishment of a U.S.-style system is out of the question for the German Jewish community, which has its own organizational mode.

Jews in Germany who want to belong to a synagogue do not join a temple. Instead, they must register with the community, prove they are Jewish and then pay annual fees, a so-called church tax, in line with their incomes.

With the collected funds, the community administers all aspects of Jewish life, paying rabbis and teachers and running community centers. Elections in cities where there are communities take place to determine who will run the boards and the Central Council for Jews in Germany, the top supervisory board of German Jewry.

To date, most members of Kehilah Chadashah are also members of the traditional community. They pay an additional fee of about $60 a year to their own group, since it receives no tax monies from the central administration.

“The mainstream community has an uncomfortable neutrality toward us,” said Riegelhaupt.

Susanna Keval, a Frankfurt scholar and feminist, predicted that the new group might lead eventually to the breakup of Germany’s unified communal structure and to the establishment of American-style Judaism here.

Of the some 50 initial members of Kehilah Chadashah, many had regularly attended Jewish services at the U.S. Army base at the Abrams Building in downtown Frankfurt.

But now, with the soldiers going home, services there are closing down and are expected to cease next year. This has left many with no alternative but the traditional German services.

Both Bubis and Michael Friedman, spokesman for the Jewish community and a member of the central council’s presidium, said they had no problem in principle with the establishment of Kehilah Chadashah.

But both said the new group had no chance of receiving any community funds.

“Whoever wants to leave can leave, but we don’t have anything to share,” Bubis said.

Friedman said the group had existed in some form for several years and had tried to get on the board of Frankfurt’s Jewish Community, but failed.

He said if progressive and reform-minded Jews got on the board and wanted to change things, he would respect that, but first they have to get the votes.

So far members of the new group conduct their own services, but they are in discussion with several rabbis for their advice and for their possible attendance at services.

This past spring, when the new congregation first started, they met in the homes of various members. But they have now obtained a location near the Frankfurt railway station in a women’s school, where they hold services every other Friday.