#JewishResilience

[jewsingermany]

A Celebration Canceled: Valentina Marcenaro’s Fight to Keep Jewish Culture Alive in Dresden

When Food Becomes a Political Battlefield

Can something as simple as food become a flashpoint in global conflicts? Is it now impossible to enjoy a serving of gefilte fish or hummus without invoking political strife? For Valentina Marcenaro, the answer is painfully clear. The chairwoman of Jewish Week Dresden, Marcenaro was forced to cancel the annual Gefilte Festival, a Jewish culinary celebration, due to mounting fears among participants. Scheduled for early November, the event was meant to showcase Jewish cuisine and culture, but growing insecurity made it impossible to proceed.

"Some of those who had been scheduled to take part in the festival were too scared to identify themselves as Jewish," Marcenaro explains. Despite her deep desire to go ahead with the event, she recognized that fear is not something to argue against but to respect. The current climate in Germany, particularly in Dresden, made it impossible for people to celebrate their own heritage without fear of reprisal.

A Life Woven with Jewish Culture

Marcenaro, 50, considers herself more culturally Jewish than religiously observant. Born in Italy, she moved to Dresden in 1998 with the intention of staying briefly to learn German—but love and life kept her rooted in the city. Her passion for Jewish culture has shaped her career, particularly in her role with Jewish Week Dresden, where she strives to teach people about the everyday aspects of Jewish life beyond its tragic history.

For Marcenaro, food is an essential tool for cultural understanding. "The best recipe against anti-Semitism," she believes, "is teaching people how to cook Jewish food." This sentiment has driven her mission to share Jewish cuisine with the broader German community, fostering connections through shared meals and traditions. But the cancellation of the Gefilte Festival has cast a shadow over her efforts.

A City’s Complicated Jewish History

Dresden’s Jewish community numbers around 700, with many members having arrived from Russia and Ukraine following the fall of the Berlin Wall. The city’s Jewish history is one of resilience, but also hardship. In East Germany, the Nazi terror was followed by communist-era anti-Semitism, leaving only a few hundred Jews in the region by the late 1980s. Today, Dresden remains a place where Jewish identity is often met with hesitation, if not outright hostility.

"Germans are rather inhibited when it comes to all things Jewish," Marcenaro observes. To many, Jewish identity is a mirror reflecting their own feelings of historical guilt rather than a vibrant, living culture. Through her work, she aims to change that by integrating Jewish traditions into everyday life—one meal at a time.

When Cuisine Becomes Controversial

The idea of cultural exchange through food is beautiful but, as Marcenaro has learned, also naive in today’s climate. Across the world, particularly in the United States, debates over food have turned political. The so-called "hummus wars" have reemerged, with accusations that Israel has "stolen" Lebanese and Palestinian dishes. Social media is flooded with calls to boycott Israeli restaurants, met with retaliatory smear campaigns against Palestinian-owned establishments. The kitchen, once a space of comfort and unity, has become yet another battlefield.

Marcenaro rejects these divisive narratives. "It’s nonsense," she says. "What others see as cultural appropriation, I see as diversity." Jewish cuisine, she explains, has always been a melting pot, reflecting the influences of the many places where Jewish communities have lived. From Ukrainian borscht to Sicilian Caponata, Jewish food is a testament to cultural fusion rather than theft.

Holding Onto Hope

On Marcenaro’s desk sits a porcelain pomegranate, a gift from Israel. The fruit, rich with seeds, is a symbol of fertility and abundance in Jewish culture and serves as the logo of the organization behind the Gefilte Festival. Though the festival has been canceled this year, Marcenaro refuses to give up hope.

For her, the act of sharing Jewish food remains an act of resilience. It is a way to ensure that Jewish culture is not only remembered but lived. Even in the face of fear, new beginnings are always possible.

[angrybell]

Posted @withregram • @magenta.indigena_ Israel faces evils that the rest of the world will never understand.

#israel #iran #hezbollah #houthis #hamas #jewishresilience

[tomchatt]

So touched to be able to join @freeholdhal ‘s family Seder of the 11th Plague via Zoom. Totally had not shopped for this and just made do. I learned a paschal yam is an acceptable modern substitute for shank bone. Used broccoli for karpas and kale for chazeret. Found an unopened jar of horseradish in the fridge which could well be 10+ years old. I put it out for ceremonial purposes but only took the tiniest dab for fear of botchilism. I did have apples, dates, walnuts, cinnamon, honey, and Graham’s 10-year tawny port in lieu of Manischewitz wine and I was quite pleased with the charoses. What a treat to see my old adoptive family from college years, and to be able to celebrate together in this way at this time. #food #realfood #passoverfood #plaguepassover #pesachsameach #manishtanahashanahazeh #coronadiaries #lifeinthetimeofcorona #jewishfood #jewishresilience (at Zoom) https://www.instagram.com/p/B-vw_K4ho7o/?igshid=7212dxqbh64v