“Closing would mean that they won!” says Leo Carnein. “That’s why we have to stay open. Even if you sometimes feel uneasy when you go to work in the morning.”
Like the manager of the Feinberg’s restaurant in Berlin, many owners of Jewish restaurants argued that they have been subjected to massive threats since the Hamas terrorist attack on October 7th. And like Nir and Sigal Rosenfeld from Frankfurter Life-Deli, they report on spitting attacks, threatening calls and derogatory entries on the rating portals.
There are increased security precautions everywhere. The Life-Deli is a kosher, vegan restaurant that is inspected and certified by a rabbi. “Leaving the country would be an option,” says Rosenfeld, “but hiding – never!” The couple, who run several vegan restaurants and a kosher catering service, also feel a responsibility for their Jewish guests. If they were forced to close because of Islamist terror, Jewish citizens would be deprived of the opportunity to eat and celebrate according to their customs.
And not just her. Many devout Muslims also came to one of their restaurants. “With us they could eat halal,” says Rosenfeld. “Now they stay away,” his wife adds. Why, they don’t want to speculate. For this reason alone, these institutions, which also organize private Jewish celebrations, are indispensable. Like Leo Carnein, despite all the hostility, they see their restaurants as an opportunity for togetherness and cultural exchange.
The restaurant, located near the Ku’damm, has been attracting secular and non-Jewish guests for twelve years. Carnein jokingly calls Feinberg’s “kosher light” because they follow certain rules, but not all of them. Nevertheless, he also reports rejections. A regular Jewish customer, for example, canceled her birthday party – not out of fear, as he emphasizes, but because her family doesn’t feel like celebrating out of concern for their relatives in Israel. “German guests are more likely to stay away out of fear. But there are others who say: Now more than ever!” The majority of them are loyal to him even after October 7th and appreciate the more Sephardic-oriented menu, which is characterized by falafel and hummus.
More texts from Gunter Blank go out to eat
The crazy debate about humus
Hummus, which practically all ethnic groups in the Middle East claim as their own, is currently sparking a grotesque identity-political farce because some radical Islamic Palestinians believe that Jewish restaurants are no longer allowed to serve hummus because it is a Palestinian national dish. “That’s a joke, of course,” says Carnein. “Hummus is an integral part of all Middle Eastern and North African cuisines and was probably there before the ethnic groups split apart.” The creamy specialty, he explains, tastes different in Israel than in Lebanon and in Syria it is different than in Morocco – in other words, it is pointless to want to claim an ethnic origin.
Eldar Fano also sees it that way, whose Akko hummus bar in Leipzig was exposed to massive threats after October 7th because of its name. That’s why Fano didn’t want to open his restaurant on October 13th for fear of the “Day of Wrath” declared by Hamas. Luckily, the Israeli reports, he met a group of football fans in front of the bar. The ultras from Chemie Leipzig and Eintracht Frankfurt, known for their work against anti-Semitism, whose clubs were currently playing a friendly match in the city, offered him their support and guarded the bar until the police arrived after a while and took over security.
The Jewish-Israeli restaurant operators want this form of everyday solidarity from the German public. And that politics and the judiciary finally take consistent action against anti-Semitism, regardless of whether it comes from the right, the left or from Islamist circles.