There was a full house at the Heidelberg University of Jewish Studies on December 5: high-ranking guests from the communities, academia, city and culture had registered for the official farewell and introduction of the old and new rectors by the Central Council of Jews in Germany. In front of an audience of almost one hundred, the President of the Central Council, Dr. Josef Schuster, recalled the many unique features of the university and its importance for the German university system before addressing the guests of honor at the event. Prof. Dr. Werner Arnold led the university in difficult times: The years were initially marked by the pandemic, then came October 7. In addition to his sensitivity for students and employees, Arnold demonstrated perseverance and repeatedly encouraged everyone around him to carry on. Originally elected for two years, Prof. Dr. Werner Arnold left the university after a total of four years. He left at a very difficult time for the university as well as for other Jewish institutions in Germany.
Unlike Prof. Arnold, his successor Dr. Andreas Brämer did not previously teach at Heidelberg University, but he did work at the university, where he dreamed the American Dream, so to speak: from dishwasher in the canteen to millionaire / Rector of the Heidelberg School of Jewish Studies. In between, and probably the decisive factor, he was the deputy director of the Institute for the History of German Jews (IGdJ) in Hamburg. The position passes from a Semitist to a Judaist and historian.
In her welcoming address, Stefanie Jansen, Heidelberg's Mayor for Social Affairs, Education, Family and Equal Opportunities, who represented the Lord Mayor, emphasized the strong ties between the city and the university. It is not only a place of learning and research on Jewish traditions and cultures dating back thousands of years or on contemporary Jewish life. It also sends important impulses into Heidelberg's urban society.
In addition to the musical prelude by Noga Sivan (violin), winner of the Karl Adler Youth Music Competition, and Prof. Dr. Noam Sivan (piano), Professor of Piano Improvisation at the State University of Music and Performing Arts in Stuttgart, it was Prof. Steve Fassberg from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and Prof. Arnold himself who entertained the audience. Fassberg, whose father-in-law Abraham Wasserstein was interim rector of the university in the 1980s, explained the discovery of the scrolls in Qumran in his speech:
"The study of the Dead Sea Scrolls revolutionized several fields related to the Second Temple period: archaeology, the Hebrew Bible, intertestamental literature, the New Testament, early Judaism and early Christianity, as well as their history, theology and liturgy. It has also changed the field of language studies: Our current understanding of Hebrew and Aramaic of the Second Temple period is radically different from what was known before 1947."
While Prof. Arnold began his lecture by stating that it is quite natural for languages and dialects to come and go, the audience could not fail to notice his personal dismay at the extinction of the last Arabic-speaking Jewish community in Antakya, Turkey, due to an earthquake. Years earlier, the Arabic sound of the Jewish community had already disappeared from the streets and alleyways of Iskenderun. Professor Arnold also disappeared from the stage at a rapid pace and with an audible lump in his throat.
The two rectors were bid farewell and introduced by Professor Barbara Traub, Chair of the Board of Trustees and member of the Presidium of the Central Council of Jews in Germany. As a long-standing supporter, she emphasized Arnold's commitment and at the same time the joy of Brämer's arrival.
With gifts to the outgoing Rector Arnold from the Freundeskreis, presented by its Chairman Prof. Dr. Michael Schmitt, and the Professorium, represented by Vice-Rector Prof. Dr. Viktor Golinets, as well as words of thanks to the Central Council, the members of the university and the audience present from Dr. Brämer, everyone made their way to the vaulted cellar, where canteen manager Beate Metwaly and her team were already waiting to round off the evening with a wonderful kosher buffet for everyone to enjoy.
