Mannheim Jewish Community

Since I was free, I decided to visit the Mannheim Synagogue. I was expecting the experience to mirror my other experiences with Synagogues in Europe. A small, aging congregation of Russians who had moved once the USSR broke up, or the few remnants of pre-WWII communities. I was pleasantly surprised when I found a new building (the website says it was built in 1987, not that I don't trust it, it's just all in German and thought I'd make that distinction), with about 100 worshipers with the average age far below 50! 

The Building

It appears as though I came on a special night. I arrived towards the end of Mincha and was struck by the number of people there were and especially by the number of people under the age of 20 and then also the number of people under the age of 6 all running/crawling around under the seats of parents/grandparents.

It was separate seating for women in the balcony and on the sides, but no mechitzah!

I don't have any fancy clothes here at all, so it felt like I was getting some glares, but that could have just been in my head as many other men my age were dressed in jeans/tshirts with writing on them while I was wearing khakis and a polo.

Before Kabalat Shabbat a girl approached the bima, sang a bit of the shema, and gave a speech. My German isn't so good, but it's not so bad either and I gathered that it was her Bat Mitzvah and that she loved her sister. parents, and grandparents - basically the same as every bat mitzvah speech. She said the final prayer about approaching the ark in the hopes of living a life of mitzvot and such in Hebrew, German, and then Russian. It was very nice.

If that wasn't enough, what I assume was all of the religious school of the synagogue came forward and led Kabalat Shabat with the cantor. That was also very nice. Then the Rabbi came forward and gave a sermon that I could neither hear nor understand, except when he said that hannah's - the bat mitzvah girl's - name was an acronym (like I didn't hear enough of them already!) khet for the challah on shabbat. Nun for the nerot of shabbat. And hay for hashem.

The announcements at the end of the services were made by a woman in German., but then in Hebrew when she addressed the two groups of Israeli students that they were also hosting. So between the Bat mitzvah, the Hebrew school presentation, and the student groups, it may not have been the standard shabbat in Mannheim.

There was a dinner laid out, but I was too afraid that it was only meant for the student groups and the bat mitzvah party, and also that I wouldn't be able to communicate with anyone at the dinner, that I just left. If I make it back and there's a dinner I'll stay next time. Until then, it was a surprisingly sweet experience and not bitter-sweet like the other European Synagogues I've visited.

This is what the dinner set-up looked like... maybe next time!