Before the completion of the Jewish Academy, a special event took place at the construction site at Senckenberganlage: Sabena Donath and Prof. Doron Kiesel, directors of the Jewish Academy Frankfurt, and the building’s architect, Prof. Zvonko Turkali, welcomed Rabbi Avichai Apel.

The focus of the tour was on the “Shabbat mode.” This measure is intended to make it possible to use the building on Shabbat and Jewish holidays without violating the 39 melachot (the 39 areas of activity) that are forbidden by biblical law for Shabbat.

Jewish holidays begin the evening before each day and end the following evening shortly after dusk. On biblical holidays (such as Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot, Passover, and Shavuot) and on Shabbat (the seventh day of the week), all work is prohibited. For traditionally living Jews, this means, for example, no electrical devices are used and no music is listened to.

This also affects the Jewish Academy’s elevators, which automatically travel to each floor in Shabbat mode. They are controlled in such a way that pressing a button is not necessary.

In addition, Rabbi Avichai Apel inspected the rooms for the Academy’s two kitchens and provided valuable information on Jewish dietary laws (kashrut).

Photo: Dominik Loh