So the man behind The Emblem Source, a Dallas-based company that makes patches for baseball uniforms and bowl games, couldn't stand seeing his fellow Jews wearing yarmulkes with badly designed logos. Read belowĪs someone who has been close to the licensed sports business his entire life, Brian Rutt can't stand to see a sports logo that doesn't look right. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.This story has been corrected. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at for further information. SHAPIRO: Deidre Berger of the American Jewish Committee Berlin, thank you so much.Ĭopyright © 2019 NPR. There's flourishing Jewish life, and it needs to be public. It's a personal decision but it's - in public, it's important for us as AJC and for everyone to say, be outward. But there are certain areas where one might feel a little more constricted. But I think no one can recommend to people themselves who wear yarmulkes as to whether or not in which parts of their city they should openly walk around with a yarmulke. And the more there's acceptance of it, the more there's discussion of it, the easier it will be to do so. It is, of course, the right thing to do to wear open and outward signs of being Jewish. ![]() So which approach do you think more people are adopting in Germany today?īERGER: I think it was important what U.S. Educate people that we are a diverse society, he said. Borrow a kippah and wear it for our Jewish neighbors. ambassador to Germany, Richard Grenell, tweeted the opposite is true. SHAPIRO: In response to the statement saying that it may not be safe for Jews to wear a kippah in public, the U.S. It's also speaking Hebrew, it's wearing Magen David Jewish star necklaces. But no one wants to be the person where it is a problem.īERGER: And even - it's not just wearing kippahs. And here on the streets of Berlin, generally, it is no problem. That said, of course, there's a great wish that this doesn't have to be, that one can wear a yarmulke openly. And yet, one doesn't want to court that sort of danger. Jews in Germany who wear yarmulkes often wear baseball caps to hide their yarmulkes because there is a feeling of unease. SHAPIRO: Are Jews in Germany already hiding external markers of religion?īERGER: Yes, they have for quite some time. But we're mostly talking about a different kind of secondary verbal assault in terms of anti-Semitism. The number of actual physical attacks is, fortunately, fairly low, so about 60 last year - 60 too many. SHAPIRO: What form does it take? Is it mostly language, acts of violence, Internet harassment?īERGER: There's a lot of Internet harassment. It's really definitely a feeling of there's more going on than there used to be. But we feel it in sports field, in schools, comments made casually at dinner parties. ![]() The statistics are rising, but they are also better at collecting statistics, to the credit of Germany, I would say, and also civil society. Those of us in the Jewish community, particularly those - we live more openly as Jews, attend Jewish events, our children and schools - we know that there's definitely been a more open manifestation of anti-Semitism for a number of years now. SHAPIRO: Have you seen a lot of signs that, in fact, anti-Semitism is not stamped out? Is there a lot of evidence of it these days?īERGER: There's more and more evidence. ![]() So the notion that it's not safe for someone who's Jewish to wear a kippah in Germany is quite astonishing for most Germans. And it really was a basis for creating the Federal Republic of Germany on liberal democratic values. There's a deep-seated belief and conviction among many in Germany and people of goodwill that anti-Semitism was stamped out in the post-war years here in Germany. SHAPIRO: How did people in Germany respond to these remarks from Felix Klein, who's the man responsible for Germany's efforts to combat anti-Semitism?īERGER: You know, I think most Germans who heard this were really shocked. Deidre Berger directs the American Jewish Committee's Ramer Institute for German-Jewish relations in Berlin. Over the weekend, the country's top official in charge of fighting anti-Semitism was reported saying he does not recommend Jews wear a kippah, or skullcap, in all parts of the country. The German government says anti-Semitic crimes were up 20% last year. Let's stick with Germany for a moment and look at a disturbing trend in that country.
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