Ki Tavo: Deuteronomy 26:1-29:8 and Isaiah 60:1-22
The parasha Ki Tavo (כי תבוא – when you enter) begins with the commandments concerning the declaration of the first fruits and offerings. It also details the blessings promised for obedience to the commandments and the curses that will follow disobedience.
Deuteronomy 28:12
יִּפְתַּח ה’ לְךָ אֶת אוֹצָרוֹ הַטּוֹב אֶת הַשָּׁמַיִם לָתֵת מְטַר אַרְצְךָ בְּעִתּוֹ וּלְבָרֵךְ אֵת כָּל מַעֲשֵׂה יָדֶךָ וְהִלְוִיתָ גּוֹיִם רַבִּים וְאַתָּה לֹא תִלְוֶה.
The Lord will open for you His good treasury, the heavens, to give the rain to your land in its season and to bless all the work of your hands.
In the New Synagogue on Oranienburger Street, light enters through skylights. Inaugurated in 1866, it was designed by architects Eduard Knoblauch and Friedrich August Stüler(1). Partially destroyed during the pogroms of 1938(2), it remained in ruins until 1980. Inspired by Moorish architecture, with elements reminiscent of the Alhambra in Granada, its golden dome, visible from afar, is one of its most distinctive features. Inside, the synagogue features elaborate decorations and colorful stained glass windows that let in soft light.
Today, it houses the Centrum Judaicum, established in 1995 by the Jewish community in collaboration with authorities and cultural organizations to preserve and promote Jewish heritage.
(1) Eduard Knoblauch (1801-1865) and Friedrich August Stüler (1800-1865) were renowned German architects. Trained at the Berlin Academy of Architecture under Karl Friedrich Schinkel, they are known for their neoclassical and eclectic styles. They both died shortly before the synagogue’s inauguration.
(2) The November 1938 pogroms, known as “Kristallnacht” (the Night of Broken Glass), were a series of violent attacks orchestrated by the Nazis against Jews in Germany, resulting in the destruction of synagogues and the deaths of hundreds of people.