The Franz Rosenzweig Lodge was established on 15th February 1967 by five members of Düsseldorf's Jewish Community, Dr. Leo Adlerstein, Dr. Isidor Evian, Mr. Hermann Lewy, Mr. Leon Spatz and Mr. Hans Cohn.
The Lodge received its charter from B’nai B’rith District 19 on 11th June 1967. It had 22 members at the time, including the Chairman of the German Jewish Community, Paul Spiegel.
Lodge members decided to name their Lodge after Franz Rosenzweig who translated the Bible into German, along with Martin Buber.
Born in 1886, Franz Rosenzweig is one of the most outstanding and moving figures in Jewish history. His personal experience of tchuva, repentance and return to his roots, has powerful symbolic force. He grew up an agnostic, in complete ignorance of Judaism and, at home in German intelligentsia, surrounded by Nietzschean nihilism and Wagnerian "twilight of the Gods" philosophy. In short, he was completely immersed in the culture of the day.
In 1913, he had just finished a thesis on Hegel, and under Eugen Rosenstock's influence, was ready to convert to Catholicism. However, his intellectual rigour did not allow him to leave Judaism without tasting it for himself, and on Yom Kippur, he went down to Berlin's Synagogue. He left a different man, fired up and deeply Jewish – it was the day before he was to be baptised. He started to tirelessly study Jewish writings and wrote a major work of his own, Star of Redemption.
At the end of his life, he battled death, suffering from a painful degenerative disease, and finally succumbed on 10th December 1929.
There is no direct link between Franz Rosenzweig and the city of Düsseldorf except that Franz Rosenzweig was elected Rabbi in 1923 by Dr Leo Baeck, Rabbi of Düsseldorf, until the Second World War.
The Lodge now has sixty Brothers and Sisters. The Lodge's main activities are:
- Charity: The Lodge is involved in projects in the local community and Israel.
- Political action: combating antisemitism and supporting Israel. The Lodge has a number of political contacts and plays a significant role in organising the annual "Israel Day" in the city centre.
- Social and cultural activities: lectures, plays, exhibitions and seminars on Jewish education and history are organised; good relations are kept up with the other Lodges.
Spring 2007 marks the Lodge's 40th anniversary.
Commentary by Michael Naor
