The rich Jewish history along the banks of the Rhine River ranges from countless stories to numerous legends that are told about Jewish life in the Rhineland.

321 is the magical number: the date that the once notable, now small Jewish community of Cologne proclaims as their establishing year.
In 1948, more than 1600 years later, the design of the flag for the state of Israel was created here - in Cologne, the zionistic stronghold at the Rhine.

200 kilometres further south between the triangle of the three SCHUM-cities Speyer, Worms and Mainz the medieval Jewry has shaped the myth of Jewish Rhineland, remembering the martyrs from the persecuted Jews during the crusades as well as the illustrious scholars of the Jewish communities, among them the famous Rashi.

Familiar family names like Worms, Shapiro, Mintz are a testimony to Jewish life in that area and the pride Jews took in proclaiming their link to this area.

Some of the small villages along the left and right banks of the river still bear witness to a great past in differents ways: by cruising on a white steamboat through one of Germany's most scenic waterways, past rolling hills and farmland, you will pass villages named Bacharach or
Frankenthal- names that sound like more than one Jewish family history.
German poet Heinrich Heine, original rhinelander from Duesseldorf, brought fame to Loreley, a tall rock on the right bank of the Rhine River, by composing the charming verses: I am looking in vain for the reason/That I am so sad and distressed/A tale known for many a season/Will not allow me to rest.

There were few survivors of the Shoah among the Jews of the Rhineland - and most of the physical witnesses of a great past are gone with the numerous victims. But a trip through the Jewish Rhineland can also become a journey into a new and differently shaped Jewish present - discover the small but vibrant Jewish communities establishing a variety of institutions in some bigger cities, and find also here and there subtle indications of resurgence of communal life in rural areas.

Be it a Minjan from Mainz filling up the small Synagogue of Worms with life on many shabbatot or be it an artist from Prague having his Chuppah set up on one of the Rhine Rivers small islands close to his house, the aphorism of the early Zionists of Cologne still outlasts: Auch der Vater Rhein ist eine Mutter Israels (Even the Father Rhine is a Mother of Israel).

Nitza Spiro whose literary thesis related to the literature of the Middle Ages in the Rhine communities will add the literary aspect to this tour.

PRICES:
£1200 for a double room (without flights)
£1350 for a single room (without flights)