Leo Baeck Institute

Leo Baeck Institute Jerusalem is one of the three centers of Leo Baeck Institute which was founded by Jews of German origin, the last generation of a thousand years old Jewish community. Its purpose is the research of the history and culture of Jews in Germany and other German speaking countries. The institute was established in 1955 by the "Council of Jews from Germany" and is named in honor of Rabbi Leo Baeck, the last representative of German speaking Jewry and its prominent leader before and during the Shoa. The Institute works through three centers - in Jerusalem, London and New York, an office of the Freunde und Foerderer des Leo Baeck Institutes in Frankfurt and the Wissenschaftliche Arbeitsgemeinschaft des Leo Baeck Instituts in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland . The Holocaust brought the history of German Jewry to an abrupt end; therefore, its last generation finding itself in a unique historical situation, felt itself obliged to preserve the memory and the spiritual values created by this Jewish community and to pass on its cultural heritage to future generations.