Frankfurt’s pioneering Jewish academy opens in Germany, drawing on a rich intellectual legacy
Why Frankfurt was chosen
The Central Council of Jews in Germany created the academy to promote education and dialogue nationally, and to combat hate. Frankfurt was selected for its longstanding role in Jewish intellectual life and its continuing importance alongside Berlin, Munich and Düsseldorf.
The academy stands less than a 10-minute walk from the city’s largest synagogue. It is also within sight of the historic festival hall where Nazis gathered Jewish men in 1938 before deporting them to concentration camps.
A legacy of Jewish learning
Jewish residents contributed to the founding of Goethe University in 1914. The city’s Jewish Lehrhaus, established in 1920, became associated with philosopher Franz Rosenzweig and was shut down by the Nazis in 1938.
The new academy says it follows the Lehrhaus tradition. At its opening on Monday, Central Council president Josef Schuster called the institution a milestone and said, “We must combat hatred with education, education and more education.” Schuster described the Jewish community’s resolve to make Germany home, while warning that Jewish life there faces greater danger than at any time since the Shoah. President Frank-Walter Steinmeier called for antisemitism to be rejected without reservation and said it must also be confronted politically.
Bringing scholarship to the public
The academy combines a 110-year-old German villa with a four-story modern building. Director Sabena Donath said the institution would explore the past, present and future equally. Donath and co-director Doron Kiesel describe the academy as a connection between scholars and the general public. Its subjects include religious philosophy, ethics and contemporary Jewish life, with a program intended to reflect Judaism’s diversity.
Kiesel said the academy wants to show the variety of Jewish lives and challenge generalizations about Jews. Interfaith dialogue is also planned, alongside discussions of antisemitism and Jewish persecution.
Antisemitism remains on agenda
Schuster has said he hopes the academy will bring Jewish subjects into public discussion beyond antisemitism and persecution. Kiesel said antisemitism can be obscured within other issues before reappearing more openly or subtly.
The project developed from an initiative by former Central Council head Dieter Graumann, who urged the creation of an educational department in 2012. The new institution’s directors helped shape its work. A mezuzah, a small capsule holding verses from the Torah, is attached to the academy’s entrance as a reminder of God’s commandments.
Key points
- The Central Council of Jews in Germany established the first academy of its kind in the country.
- Frankfurt’s Jewish intellectual history and the legacy of Rosenzweig’s Lehrhaus inform the academy’s mission.
- Its program will address Jewish life, ethics, religious philosophy and interfaith dialogue.
- Leaders say education and public discussion are important in confronting antisemitism.