A Student Program in Affiliation with Yeshiva University May 26 th June 2 nd, 2014 Tentative Schedule (still subject to change) Monday, May 26 Introduction Arrival in Berlin Tegel and Bus Transfer to the Hotel HOTEL JURINE Berlin-Mitte Schwedter Straße 15 10119 Berlin Tel: 030 44 32 99-0 Fax: 030 44 32 99-99 - Program officially starts 5:00 pm Q/A Session with Dr. Dagmar Pruin, GCU Program Executive Director, Rabbi David Rose, COO, Lauder Yeshurun, and GCU staff HOTEL JURINE Berlin-Mitte - Breakfast Room Schwedter Straße 15, 10119 Berlin 6:30 pm Welcome Dinner HOTEL JURINE Berlin-Mitte - Breakfast Room Schwedter Straße 15, 10119 Berlin 9:30 pm Maariv
Tuesday, May 27 Orientation in Berlin 7:15 am Meeting outside hotel (boys) 7:30 am Shacharit at Beis Zion Yeshivas Beis Zion Brunnenstr. 33, 10119 Berlin U8 Rosenthaler Platz / M1+8 8:30 am Breakfast at the Midrasha 9:00 am Meeting outside the Midrasha, ready for departure 9:30 am Welcome Address at the Centrum Judaicum with Dr. Hermann Simon, Director of the Foundation New Synagogue Centrum Judaicum Centrum Judaicum Seminar Room Oranienburger Straße 28-30, 10117 Berlin U6 Oranienburger Tor / S Oranienburger Straße / M1+12 The New Synagogue was built on Oranienburger Straße between 1859 and 1866 as the main synagogue for Berlin s Jewish community. Because of its splendid eastern Moorish style and resemblance to the Alhambra, it is an important architectural monument of the second half of the 19th century in Berlin. Taking up the tradition of the New Synagogue, the New Synagogue Berlin - Centrum Judaicum Foundation sees itself as a link connecting the past and the future. The Centrum Judaicum has the task of assembling and addressing the history of the Jews in and around Berlin. The Centrum Judaicum also operates as Germany Close Up s host. 10:00 am Empty Space? Don t Trust the Green Grass! A Walking Tour of Jewish Mitte with Dr. Dagmar Pruin Starting point: Centrum Judaicum Rosenstraße 1, 10178 Berlin S Hackescher Markt / Bus 100, 200 12:30 pm City Bus Tour and Lunch with Gerrit Book Starting point: Monbijouplatz 5:00 pm A Visit to German Historical Museum Free time and dinner on your own
Wednesday, May 28 Remembrance and Beyond 7:30 am - 8:30 am Shacharit at the Yeshiva 8:30-9:00 am Breakfast at the Midrasha Kastanienallee 69, 10119 Berlin U2-Eberswalder Straße / M1 Zionskirchplatz 9:00 am Meeting outside the Midrasha, ready for departure 10:00 am A guided tour of the Memorial and Museum at the Former Concentration Camp Sachsenhausen The Sachsenhausen concentration camp was used primarily for political prisoners from 1936 to the end of the Third Reich in May 1945. Nazi-German concentration camps were different from extermination or death camps such as Auschwitz-Birkenau or Treblinka. Concentration camps were mostly intended as places of incarceration and forced labor for a variety of enemies of the state - the Nazi label for people they deemed undesirable. In the early years of the Shoah; Jews were primarily sent to concentration camps, but from 1942 onward they were mostly deported to extermination camps in Eastern Europe most located in occupied Poland. After World War II, when Oranienburg was in the Soviet Occupation Zone, the concentration camp was used as an NKVD special camp. The remaining buildings and grounds are now open to the public as a museum and memorial. Memorial and Museum at the Former Concentration Camp Sachsenhausen Straße der Nationen 22, 16516 Oranienburg Lunchboxes will be provided 2:00 pm Departure back to Berlin 3:00 pm An introduction to the Holocaust Memorial and visit to the Information Center The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe in the center of Berlin is Germany's central Holocaust memorial site, a place for remembrance and commemoration of six million victims. The Memorial consists of the Field of Stelae designed by architect Peter Eisenman and the underground Information Centre and is maintained by a Federal Foundation. Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe Cora-Berliner-Straße 1, 10117 Berlin S+U Brandenburger Tor / S+U Potsdamer Platz / Bus 100 Time on your own
6:30 pm Group Discussion HOTEL JURINE Berlin-Mitte Schwedter Straße 15, 10119 Berlin 8:00 pm Dinner HOTEL JURINE Berlin-Mitte Schwedter Straße 15, 10119 Berlin 9:30 pm Maariv
Thursday, May 29 Political Germany in a Nutshell Formal dress code required Please be sure to bring your passport 7:30 am - 8:30 am Shacharit at the Yeshiva, Tora reading Yeshivas Beis Zion Brunnenstr. 33, 10119 Berlin U8 Rosenthaler Platz / M1+8 8:30-9:00 am Breakfast at the Midrasha Kastanienallee 69, 10119 Berlin U2-Eberswalder Straße / M1 Zionskirchplatz 9:00 am Meeting outside the Midrasha, ready for departure 10:30 am Meeting with a representative of the Foreign Office Federal Foreign Office Werderscher Markt 1, 10117 Berlin U2 Hausvogteiplatz 12:00 pm Lunchboxes will be provided 1:00 pm Meeting with a member of the German Bundestag The Reichstag building was constructed to house the Reichstag, the first parliament of the German Empire. It was opened in 1894 and housed the Reichstag until 1933, when it was severely damaged in a fire. The building remained in ruins until the reunification of Germany, when it underwent reconstruction led by internationally renowned architect Norman Foster. After its completion in 1999, it became the meeting place of the modern German parliament, the Bundestag. Bundestag, Paul-Löbe Haus, Room E 032 Konrad Adenauer Straße, 10557 Berlin U55 Bundestag 3:30 pm Meeting with a representative of the Embassy of the State of Israel in Berlin Cum Laude Universitätsstraße 4, 10117 Berlin U6 / S Friedrichstraße 4:30 pm Panel: Jewish Life in Modern Germany Cum Laude Universitätsstraße 4, 10117 Berlin U6 / S Friedrichstraße
8:00 pm Dinner with Young Germans 9:30 pm Maariv Restaurant Bleibergs Nürnberger Straße 45A 10789 Berlin U9 Augsburger Straße/ S-Zoologischer Garten Friday, May 30 Leipzig I 7:30 am - 8:30 am Shacharit at the Yeshiva 8:30-9:00 am Breakfast at the Midrasha 9:00 am Check out 9:15 am Meeting outside the hotel, ready for departure 12:44 pm Train departure to Leipzig 1:56 pm Arrival in Leipzig, followed by check in to the hotel 2:30 pm Departure to Völkerschlacht Denkmal 3:15 pm A visit to the Völkerschlacht Denkmal The Monument to the Battle of the Nations (German: Völkerschlachtdenkmal) is a monument in Leipzig, Germany, to the Battle of Leipzig of 1813, also known as the Battle of the Nations. It is one of Leipzig's main landmarks. Paid for mostly by donations and a lottery, but partially by the city of Leipzig, it was completed in 1913 for the 100th anniversary of the battle. 5:00 pm Back to Hotel: Preparation for Service 6:45 pm Meeting in the hotel lobby 7:00 pm Meeting with Rabbi Zsolt Balla at the Tora Center Synagogue Keilstraße 4, 04105 Leipzig 7:25 pm Maariv Service Synagogue Keilstraße 4, 04105 Leipzig 8:00 pm Dinner with Rabbi Zsolt Balla and members of the congregation
Tora Center Leipzig Löhrstraße 10, 40105 Leipzig 8:58 pm Candle Lighting 10:30 pm Oneg Shabbat Tora Center Leipzig Löhrstraße 10, 40105 Leipzig Saturday, May 31 Leipzig II 8:15 am Meeting in the hotel lobby 9:00 am Services 12:00 pm Lunch at the homes of members of the congregation 2:30 pm Mincha at the Synagoge Synagogue Keilstraße 4, 04105 Leipzig 3:15 pm A tour of Jewish Leipzig with Zsolt Balla Meeting point: tbc Free time 8:00 pm Dinner with younger members of the congregation Tora Center Leipzig Löhrstraße 10, 40105 Leipzig 10:31 pm Havdalah 11:00 pm Maariv and Havdalah Service Tora Center Leipzig Löhrstraße 10, 40105 Leipzig
Sunday, June 1 Kreuzberg: Kiez perspectives 7:00 am Meeting in the hotel lobby 7:30 am - 8:30 am Shacharit 8:30 am Breakfast at the Tora Center by 9:30 am Check out of the hotel and meeting in the hotel lobby, ready for departure 9:51 am Departure back to Berlin 11:08 am Arrival in Berlin, check in to the hotel Lunch boxes will be provided 12:00 pm A Walking Tour of Kreuzberg Kreuzberg has emerged from its history as one of the poorest quarters in Berlin in the late 1970s, during which it was an isolated section of West Berlin to one of Berlin's cultural centers in the middle of the now reunified city. The borough is known for its very large percentage of immigrants and second-generation immigrants, many of whom are of Turkish ancestry. Starting point: Kreuzberg Museum Adalbertstraße 95a, 10999 Berlin U8 Kottbusser Tor 2:00 pm A Panel Discussion: Educational Initiatives against Antisemitism and Right Wing Extremism With Andreas Koch (KIgA) and Michael Trube (MBR) The Kreuzberg Initiative against Antisemitism is a small organization located in the Kreuzberg neighborhood of Berlin. Today, the neighborhood is mainly populated by Muslims, immigrants of Kurdish, Turkish and Asiatic origin, as well as Palestinians who have immigrated to Germany. The organization was founded after a long series of antisemitic attacks around the world. It exists with the assistance of various government donations, as well as donations from various organizations that aim to reinforce the activities of the organization. Starting in 2001, the Mobile Counseling Team against Right-wing Extremism (MBR Mobile Beratung gegen Rechtsextremismus in Berlin) has been offering counseling and support to anyone in Berlin willing or needing to become active against right-wing extremism, racism and antisemitism. In the five years of the MBR s existence, typical client groups have been youth groups (especially those being targeted by right-wing violence and dominance), citizen s action groups, NGOs, teachers, social workers, as well as civic authorities, and politicians on the municipal and federal state
levels. The purpose and long-term goal of the MBR s work is to foster a democratic culture, i.e. practice for everyday life. This concept of democratic culture is based on the ideal of human rights and equality. It is a demanding concept, as it requires taking a position, establishing a lively culture of debate, and the personal willingness to take up action. Such democratic culture is aimed at handling conflicts in a non-discriminatory, non-accusatory way. Kreuzberg Museum Adalbertstraße 95a, 10999 Berlin U8 Kottbusser Tor Free Time Suggestion: A Visit to the Jewish Museum The Jewish Museum Berlin covers two millennia of German Jewish history. World-renowned architect Daniel Libeskind designed the museum, which opened to the public in 2001. The museum was one of the first buildings designed after German reunification. The Jewish Museum Berlin Lindenstraße 9-14 10969 Berlin U6 Kochstraße 6:30 pm Concluding Discussion With Dr. Dagmar Pruin Wostel Hobrechtstr. 66, 12047 Berlin U7+8 Hermannplatz / M41 8:00 pm Concluding Dinner Monday, June 2 Departure Day Have a safe trip home!