First new reform synagogue since Holocaust opens in Germany

Feb 20, 2011, 16:48 GMT

Hamelin, Germany - The first Jewish reform synagogue to be built in Germany since the Holocaust was officially opened on Sunday, in the western town of Hamelin.

The Jewish cultural centre was constructed on the site of an old synagogue that was destroyed by the Nazis in 1938.

The place of worship was inaugurated by rolls of the Torah scripture, on which all Jewish laws are based, being placed in their designated storage cupboards at the front of the synagogue.

The scrolls, which are more than 100 years old, originated in Germany and were returned by New York Rabbi Jo David.

Reform Judaism is a liberal branch of the religion, which maintains that Jewish practices should be kept modern and compatible with surrounding cultural values.

The town of Hamelin, best known for the legend of the Pied Piper who led children away with his pipe music, was also the hometown of a well-known 17th century Jewish chronicler, Glueckel of Hamelin.

The town's Jewish reform community, which was re-established in 1997, consists mostly of recent Jewish emigres from countries that once made up the Soviet Union.

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