Jewish life

The summer of 2024 was the hottest in the world since records began. Reduced crop yields, heat waves and the current floods are once again clearly demonstrating the effects of climate change in Germany this year. Global warming is making once-in-a-century floods like those we are currently seeing in Poland and Austria more and more common.

As a Jewish community, we are obliged to take responsibility individually and collectively in this crisis. The Midrash Kohelet Rabba states: “Everything I have created, I have created for you. Be careful not to spoil and destroy my world, for if you spoil it, no one will restore it after you.” In view of the climate crisis, this also means taking active steps against the destruction of creation.

The climate crisis is also a question of social justice.

At the same time, the climate crisis is also a question of social justice. Those who have contributed least to its causes are often the most affected by its consequences – especially the poorer segments of society. Our tradition emphasizes the duty to support the needy and the weak out of charity (gemilut chassadim), to heal the world (tikkun olam) and promote justice (tzedek).

In addition to tackling climate change, it is therefore also up to us to mitigate its impacts on the communities most affected and build their resilience.

None of us will be able to save the climate alone, but we are all called upon to do our best in our daily lives, in our work and in our communities. Or, as Rabbi Tarfon is quoted in the Mishnah: “It is not your task to complete the work, but you are not free to evade it either.”

The author is the founder of the environmental NGO »re:net« and was included in the »30 under 30« list by »Forbes« in 2023.

In France, planned attacks on the Olympic and Paralympic Games have been foiled in several cities. Anti-terrorism prosecutor Olivier Christen said that, among other things, an attack on “Israeli facilities or representatives of Israel in Paris” during the Olympic Games from July 26 to August 11 had been prevented. The plans were not directly aimed at the Israeli Olympic team, he told the broadcaster France Info.

Five suspects accused of terrorism are still in custody, Christen said. One of them is said to be a minor. The three foiled attack plans were mainly linked to jihadists, Christen said. Propaganda from the terrorist group Islamic State continues to be spread.

Christen said that preventive measures against attacks included increased house searches in the run-up to the Olympic Games. This year there have already been 936 such searches, compared to 153 last year. Before the Olympic Games, the authorities arrested a Chechen who was allegedly planning an attack on the football tournament.

France has been the target of Islamists for many years, and there have been numerous terrorist-related attacks in the country. At the end of August, police arrested four suspects after an arson attack on a synagogue in southern France. ap

The head of the Israeli elite reconnaissance unit 8200, Yossi Sariel, has resigned. The Israeli army announced this. In a letter to the unit’s employees, quoted by the portal “haaretz.com”, Sariel justified the step with the “personal responsibility” he bears for the reconnaissance unit’s failure on October 7 of the previous year.

On that day, the Islamist Hamas and other terrorist groups from the Gaza Strip launched a surprise attack on southern Israel. The attackers killed 1,200 people and took another 250 hostage in the sealed-off Palestinian coastal area. The unprecedented massacre triggered the Gaza War.

Unit 8200, which is comparable to the US secret service NSA, is involved, among other things, in uncovering and decrypting the communications of enemy forces. Many highly qualified specialists from the IT sector work in it.

The soldiers who complete their service in the unit are in for attractive jobs in the tech industry. But like other parts of the Israeli security apparatus, the military elite in Israel is accused of having failed on October 7 of last year.

The director of Israeli military intelligence, Aharon Haliva, resigned for this reason in April. The departure of 8200 chief Sariel increases the pressure on other top officials in the security apparatus to face up to their alleged responsibility for October 7.

The Army Chief of Staff, Herzi Halevi, the head of the foreign intelligence service Mossad, David Barnea, and the head of the domestic intelligence service Shin Bet, Ronen Bar, admitted their responsibility in connection with October 7, but at the same time declared their intention to remain in office until the end of the Gaza war.

The plan was actually to celebrate the diversity of Jewish life in Hamburg’s Grindelviertel. But the “Grindelfest: Culture.Jewish.Colorful,” which was supposed to take place from September 13 to 15 in cooperation with the Kammerspiele and the Jewish community of the Hanseatic city, has now been canceled with reference to the events in Solingen.

“Unfortunately, we have come to the conclusion that we cannot guarantee safety despite security and police support,” said Jimmy Blum, chairman of Grindel eV, on the association’s Facebook page last Wednesday. They are afraid of copycats and therefore do not want to take any risks.

This decision was harshly criticized by politicians. “The cancellation of the Grindelfest is a disgrace for our city,” explains Anke Frieling, deputy chairwoman of the CDU parliamentary group. “I can understand the organizer’s motives very well, but right now it is important that such peaceful festivals for tolerance and diversity can be held safely in our city.”

“The fact that the Grindelfest was cancelled makes me sad and thoughtful,” said Sonja Jacobsen, state chairwoman of the FDP in Hamburg. “If public Jewish life in Hamburg can no longer take place, that is an alarm signal.” And Gabor Gottlieb, chairman of the SPD parliamentary group in the Eimsbüttel district, added: “We will not allow our festivals or public space to be taken away from us.”

»In the current situation, cancelling the Grindelfest is simply the wrong signal.«

David Rubinstein

The Jewish community would also have decided differently. “In the current situation, cancelling the Grindelfest is simply the wrong signal,” said its managing director David Rubinstein. “Those who would like to prevent such a festival have already won.” He therefore cannot understand the association’s decision. “Other events such as the Uhlenhorst district festival took place at the same time as the attack in Solingen and were not simply cancelled.”

Jimmy Blum told the Hamburger Abendblatt that they were very aware that the decision not to hold the Grindelfest was exactly what terrorists wanted to achieve. And given the amount of work that had been invested in planning the event over the months, it was anything but easy to call off the event. But Solingen would have changed everything. “In the end, we as organizers are responsible if something happens.”

According to Blum, discussions with the police in an interview with the broadcaster NDR 90.3 in Solingen, during which he was promised a lot of support with security, did not change his decision. Nevertheless, he does not want to give up and wants to carry on. He would like to make up for the now cancelled Grindelfest next year.