Hamburg hires Jewish cantor, rebuilds synagogue

Hamburg hires Jewish cantor, rebuilds synagogue

News

norman lebrecht

June 09, 2022

The city of Hamburg has appointed the Israeli baritone Assaf Levitin to be the first cantor of its Liberal synagogue since 1938.

It is also funding a feasibility study to rebuild the Bornplatz Synagogue, which was destroyed on Kristallnacht.

Comments

  • drummerman says:

    I know nothing about German law. Does this mean that the synagogue is owned and operated by the city of Hamburg? Just curious how things work.

    • Hugo Preuß says:

      No, just misleading reporting. The city of Hamburg has publicly welcomed the appointment, but he is not a city employee. And there is a foundation currently examining the option of how to rebuild the synagogue Bornplatz in Hamburg. The city as well as the federal governemnt is part of that foundation, but not the owner of the planned new/old synagogue.

  • IP says:

    I didn’t know they had non-Jewish cantors.

  • Herbie G says:

    Great news – took only 77 years since 1945 to rebuild it. Was the job done by the same companies who constructed the Elizabeth Line?

  • MOST READ TODAY: