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| Our group in Wertheim |
Our day started with a glass blowing demonstration.
We walked through the town of
Wertheim, population
about 20,000. Here we visited the memorial to the former Jewish Synagogue. We
also saw the stumbling stones in the pavement in front of houses and businesses
were Jews once lived and worked. Jews have been invited to Germany and then
persecuted numerous times over history. They were invited to become the money
lenders, but never merchants nor tradespeople, because Christians thought it
was sinful to charge interest for lending money. But this led to their persecution
when the royalty couldn’t pay their debts – easier to rid the town of Jews and
extinguish the debt. This action was fortified by the tale that Jews worked
with the devil, that’s why they didn’t catch the plague. The hygiene rules of
Jewish law helped them avoid the plague with their kosher food and ritual baths.
(Pork meat also spoils faster than beef.)
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| Wertheim Castle |
Many of us climbed up
to Wertheim Castle to
take in the views.
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| The view from the castle |
In the afternoon, we had coffee and cakes at the home of Wolfgang,
Stephan and Lucy. Wolfgang has been hosting Grand Circle visitors for over 20
years with his son, Stephan. Lucy is 20 years old and a granddaughter of
Wolfgang. She was very excited because next week she was starting at the
University.
