79th issue of the community newspaper

The 79th issue of the Magdeburg synagogue community newspaper „Schalom“ (February 2026, Adar 5786) fascinates with a mixture of present and past - from the introduction of our new rabbi to historical treasures and commemorative articles.

You can read the 79th issue of the community newspaper „Schalom“ here absolutely free of charge and without obligation

Welcome Rabbi Itkin
Rabbi Igor Mendel Itkin has been working with us part-time since November 2025. Born in 1989 in Dnipro/Ukraine, he grew up in Hanover and studied at the FU and the Orthodox Rabbinical Seminary in Berlin. He also teaches at the Jewish High School in Berlin, works interreligiously with Meet2Respect (rabbis and imams in schools with a focus on violence) and digitizes Jewish-German texts (Talmud, Mishnah, Midrash) for Sefaria. In Magdeburg, he offers bar/bat mitzvah preparation, Torah and Hebrew courses for adults, leads morning prayers on Tuesdays and Wednesdays and helps with genealogical research.

Treasures of the synagogue library
Rabbi Itkin looks through old books from the Gröperstraße synagogue: predominantly German-Hebrew, with religious literature, liturgy, history and Zionism. Highlights: Temple service declaration (1711), Machzor (1738), Hebrew Bible (1716), emigration guide (1938). Many with stamps from Hachsharot (training camps for kibbutz pioneers, e.g. Givat Brenner). Local: Lieder des Synagogen-Gesang-Vereins (1871), dedication by Rabbi Dr. Georg Wilde (1925), bar mitzvah note 1940. Rarity: pamphlet on the Nienburg synagogue dedication (1823, only 3 copies worldwide). Russian-Hebrew: Prayer book by Raissa Heller (Theresienstadt survivor). Unusable in Genizah/Museum, usable in class; find: fork of an Auschwitz survivor (information welcome!). Contact the Moses Mendelssohn Center Potsdam for Hachshara Research.

Remembrance and Magdeburg history
Commemorative visits to the MAGDA memorial (Rothensee), reflections on the Holocaust (Auschwitz, Theresienstadt), night of bombing 16/17.01.1945 (10,000 dead), Elbe meeting 1945.
Contributions to the Jewish presence in Magdeburg (since 1161, Hanseatic period, Max Samuel House), Purim celebration (16th Adar), international news.

Your
Synagogue community in Magdeburg