I
n May 2008 I was fortunate to be one of fif-
teen participants on the special HUC-JIR
trip of Germany Close Up, an organization
whose purpose is to familiarize American Jewish
young adults with modern Germany, its Jewish
community, and its government’s support for
Jews and for Israel. The itinerary of the trip was
comprised of meetings, tours, social events,
prayer services, and the experience of a small
taste of Jewish life in modern Germany.
We had two notable political meetings. At
lunch with Asaf Ichelvich, the Foreign Relations
Advisor of the Israeli Embassy in Germany, the
discussion centered on German-Israeli relations
in particular, as well as European-Israeli
relations on the whole. Ichelvich alluded to a
statement made by a previous ambassador,
labeling Europe as “an island surrounded by the
sea of reality.” On this island, however, we
learned that Germany stands out as Israel’s
greatest ally on the European continent.
That sentiment was mirrored in a later
meeting we had with Hans Ulrich Klose, a
member of Parliament and Deputy Chairman
of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Ger-
man Government. Klose provided us with a
clear and concise picture of the government’s
positions regarding the state of Israel. As the
party line goes, Germany is a friend to Israel,
will support Israel and its quest for peace, and
will also support and protect Germany’s Jewish
MEET HUC-J IR’S STUDENTS
2009
ISSUE 72 | 37
sister’s friend that they would look after me
and make sure I had a good year. It wasn’t
necessary – my time in Grand Forks was
fantastic, although cold, but having that
connection made me feel even more at
home from day one.
Round Two: Way Down South (at least for me)
Heading into year three of HUC-JIR,
Cincinnati students get to choose our stu-
dent pulpits through an event of
controlled chaos known as the pulpit lot-
tery. I chose a congregation in Joplin, MO,
because after having read descriptions of
all the available synagogues, it seemed to
provide an interesting mix of people and
activities. Of course I already knew their
current student rabbi, but I had no other
connection to the congregation. Or so I
thought when I chose it. Later that week,
my fiancé mentioned to his parents where
I had chosen to serve. His father was
floored. As it turns out, my fiancé’s grand-
mother was raised in Joplin as a member of
that congregation, and my fiancé’s great-
grandfather is buried in the Jewish
cemetery in town. When preparing for the
annual congregational memorial service,
held in the cemetery between
Rosh Hashanah
and
Yom Kippur
,
I mentioned to the con-
gregant who oversees the Jewish cemetery
that I wanted to find the grave of my fi-
ancé’s great-grandfather. He, too, showed
his excitement that I had a true almost-fam-
ily connection to the congregation, and he
set out trying to help me find the grave.
We found it, and the plot turned out to be
conveniently located under the one tree in
the Jewish section of the cemetery, and
therefore we held our memorial service
next to his resting place. As congregants
learned of my true connection, not only
through choosing to serve the congrega-
tion but through family ties, it seemed that
their warm welcome became even warmer.
Over Thanksgiving, I met my fiancé’s
grandmother who grew up in Joplin, and
now I have several more graves of family
friends of hers to visit if I am back in that
cemetery. The Jewish Geography connec-
tion with his grandmother made for an
easy ice breaker and great discussions.
Jewish Geography is
one reason I love Jewish
life. I have discovered
that wherever there’s
someone Jewish, there’s a
game of Jewish Geogra-
phy waiting to be played,
and perhaps won, in the
most unpredictable ways
that I never could have
imagined.
Jessica Karpay, C ’11
GERMANY
UP CLOSE
Joshua Leighton, C ‘11
A PH Y:
I T I O N
Joshua Leighton, C ‘11,
at the entrance to
Geiger Kolleg.
