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Munich comes full circle: From putsch to rabbi conference
The name “Munich” quickly brings the Oktoberfest to mind. This can be annoying to cultured Münchner, or Munich residents, who would prefer that people think of their lofty museums or at least the picturesque castles nearby. But it used to be far worse, as Munich was where Adolf Hitler rose to power. It was here where the famous Putsch attempt took place, so notorious that this is “the” Putsch that introduced the word into the English language. The Alter Hof, or old court, currently an elegant apartment building, used to be a 13th-century castle that housed the Wittelsbach rulers. Despite this, tour guides spend more time explaining how Hitler painted postcards there to peddle to tourists.
If only they had bought more of them. A lot more.
The putsch failed, and Hitler was incarcerated for a year before a right-wing sympathetic Bavarian government let him out early. He did have enough time, however, to write Mein Kampf, a book that my 9th-grade English teacher would have ripped apart just for its terrible writing. Let’s not even get into its contents.
But history now comes full circle. This city that served as the cradle of Naziism will now become the host city of the Conference of European Rabbis or CER. This organization of ca. 1,000 rabbis has had its…
