Anti-Semitic Incident
Rabbi wants more security for community
Jews repeatedly experience anti-Semitic insults, threats and physical assaults in the public sphere in Berlin. They cause fear and insecurity.
After an aggressively anti-Semitic incident with an insult in Berlin, the affected Potsdam Rabbi Ariel Kirzon called for better security precautions for the community center. Police protect the community on special holidays, Kirzon said. “But what about the whole year?” Referring to the attack on the synagogue in Halle in 2019, he said: “It can happen anywhere and anytime.” Terrorists sought places and places that are little protected.
On every Shabbat, when he celebrates a service in Potsdam, his wife worries, Kirzon said. “We want to be able to pray without worry.” The Jewish holiday Shabbat begins on Friday evening and lasts until Saturday evening. Kirzon said he is now considering stopping speaking Hebrew on the street and not showing specific parts of his clothing. He was attacked three years ago.
Insulted in an anti-Semitic manner and bumped into on the shoulder
Meanwhile, the police are looking for the perpetrator. A spokesman said there were no new findings. The videos from a nearby subway station are to be evaluated. On Tuesday morning in Berlin-Mariendorf, Kirzon was insulted in an anti-Semitic manner and bumped into on the shoulder by a man when he was out with his son and on the phone in Hebrew. According to his statement, his clothing also showed that he was a Jew.
The incident sparked new uncertainty in the Jewish community in Potsdam. “We felt relatively safe in Potsdam – not anymore,” said chairman Evgueni Kutikow. Although the crime happened in Berlin, the uncertainty is also growing in Brandenburg. The Jewish community in Potsdam has around 500 members. The Abraham Geiger College, which trains rabbis, is also based in Potsdam.