To address this problem, in 1996, The Ronald S. Lauder Foundation established an office in the heart of the revitalized Jewish quarter of Berlin for the benefit of the Russian immigrants.

The Lauder Judisches Lehrhaus, Berlin
An extremely meaningful occasion for the Foundation's commitment to Jews now living in Germany was the dedication in October 1999 of The Lauder Jüdisches Lehrhaus in Berlin, in a remarkable, old structure whose interior was completely modernized by Foundation funding.

The Lehrhaus building and the adjacent Rykestrasse Synagogue were completed in 1904 and are historically protected. The Synagogue is one of only two in Berlin to have survived Kristallnacht intact, sheltered by neighboring apartment houses which would have also burned had the Synagogue been set alight. The Lehrhaus building, a Jewish school until 1941, was used after W.W.II to house an East Berlin social welfare organization and was restored to the Berlin Jewish Community in 1998.

In a unique partnership - the Jewish Community of Berlin, made the Lehrhaus premises available to the Foundation rent-free for twenty years, and also provided some funding for repairs. The Ronald S. Lauder Foundation is extremely grateful and especially proud that this arrangement with an international entity marks a first for the Berlin Jewish Community.

The Lauder Jüdisches Lehrhaus is now a center for Jewish learning and living. Its dynamic and innovative programs are designed to respond to the specific needs of the recent immigrants from the former Soviet Union. The Lehrhaus comprises three units: a Teacher Resource Center, an Adult Education Institute, and a Beit Midrasch Program for students engaged in both intensive study and outreach projects.

The Beit Midrasch d'Berlin is the first yeshiva in Germany in decades. The Beit Midrasch of Berlin offers a full time program, as well as part time study for university students. The Beit Midrasch enrolls 15 full time students and 11 part time students from across Germany. Intensive studies enable a student with little or no background in Jewish studies to achieve a high level of Jewish literacy in one to two years.

The monthly Klei Kodesh Seminars provide practical knowledge and learning for leaders of small communities. These Seminars strive to fulfill the Foundation's dream of reaching at least one person from each of Germany's communities. Each participant returns home able to lead a Kabbalat Shabbat service, hold a Passover Seder, lecture on basic Judaism, and multiply the impact of our programs.

The Open Beit Midrasch gives adult members of the Jewish Community the opportunity to take classes in Russian, German, and English. Weekly sessions followed by lively dinners have encouraged 40 participants of all ages, backgrounds, and denominations to unite in one goal - the study of Torah & Judaism.

The Ronald Lauder Kindergarten of the Jewish Community of Hamburg
The first Jewish educational institution in Hamburg in over 30 years, The Ronald Lauder Kindergarten of the Jewish Community of Hamburg opened in September 2000, and reached its maximum enrollment of 22 children within months. The Foundation's goal of promoting integration of Russian speaking Jews into the Hamburg community through the Kindergarten has been a remarkable success, with young immigrant families active in a community for the first time. The Kindergarten is currently expanding to accommodate the rising interest in this program.

The Lauder Saxony Youth Project
Leipzig was a prominent center of Jewish life before the Second World War. It was the only city in Germany other than Berlin to boast a significant population of Eastern European Jews, drawn by Leipzig's famous trade fairs and fur business. Russian Jews have arrived again, revitalizing Jewish learning and commitment in the city. 50 children attend weekly Kabbalat Shabbat programs, participate in regular Torah study groups, and travel monthly to the Lauder Jüdisches Lehrhaus in Berlin for Sundays of learning and activities. Through its vitality, the Youth Center has begun to serve as the locus of activity for young Jews from the entire region, including Dresden, Chemnitz and Halle.

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Lauder Moriah Elementary School in Cologne
On 3 July 2002, in the frame of the Jewish social services center in Cologne, the signing of a contract between the Ronald S. Lauder Foundation and the Synagogue-Community Cologne for the first Jewish elementary school in Cologne after World War II took place.

The Lauder-Morijah Elementary School derives its name from the last Jewish Elementary School in Cologne before World War II. Morijah symbolizes Jewish education: according to Biblical tradition, it is the name of the mountain on which Abraham was supposed to sacrifice his son Yitzchak and thereafter the First Temple was erected.

The elementary school is part of the Jewish social services center in the Otto Street in Cologne-Ehrenfeld, and in September, 2005, all four grades will be full, with a total of eighty students. The religious and cultural education focuses on the learning of the Hebrew language, as well as on Biblical studies and Jewish traditions. With the help of the Tal Am method, a Jewish educational program from Canada, the kids are to become familiar with their Jewish culture through the inclusion of all five senses.

Lauder Midrasha
The Lauder Midrasha in Frankfurt serves as a learning and outreach center for Western and Southern Germany. The Midrasha trains young German Jewish women in Jewish texts and traditions, while concurrently providing outreach services to 40 Jewish Communities in Germany. The Midrasha complements the existing Lauder Beit Midrash in Berlin.

Lauder Chovev Educational Center in Frankfurt
As a result of the overwhelming response shown by the local Jewish Community to the programs of the Ronald S. Lauder Foundation, The Lauder Chovev Educational Center was inaugurated in 2000. The name Chorev derived from a seminal work of Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsh, a leading Rabbi in Frankfurt in the last century, connects the exciting revitalization of German Jewish life today with its regal Jewish legacy. The Center helps Jews of all ages, both German and Russian, deepen their understanding of their heritage.

The Center offers an adult education program which offers three semesters worth of classes in Russian, German, and English Class topics include Hebrew, Talmud, Jewish Prayer, Basic Judaism, Parashat Hashavua, Jewish Holidays, and the Book of Ruth. There are currently over 60 adults who participate in the program, and more people are always registering.

Special programs, lecture series, and special "Yemei Iyun," preparatory learning programs for Jewish holidays, are offered in the center as well. Some of the highlights of these programs include a Rosh Hashana Learner's Service, an explanatory Purim Play, and a Mock Seder for Pesach. Lectures on various Jewish themes have been given by the Chief Rabbi of Givatayim, and by Rabbi Langnas of Munich, among others.
The Center opened its library to the public in the beginning of the year. All who are interested are welcome to come and take out a book in Russian, German, Hebrew, or English, on a broad range of Jewish topics.

The Lauder Chovev Seminar Center in Würzburg
In February 2000, in cooperation with the Jewish Community of Würzburg, renovations were completed renovations of The Lauder Chorev Center. By refurbishing an unused Jewish old age home, we now have a multi-purpose facility that offers lodging, dining, and programming accommodations. The seminar center has a capacity to house up to 60 people, and has enabled the Foundation to reach out to over 200 young people from over 20 communities in Germany.Youngsters from all over Germany will gather in the Würzburg Center for Shabbat programs, summer and winter camps, and leadership seminars.

The Am Echad Leadership Seminars are attended by 70 young leaders between the ages of 16 and 25, who come from over ten different cities in Germany, including Aachen, Bonn, Bochum, Frankfurt am Main, Würzburg, Hamburg, Leipzig, Osnabrück, Chemnitz, Nürnberg, and Trier. All of the participants serve their local communities as youth leaders, teachers, and heads of student unions. The seminars serve as an opportunity for them to learn and strengthen their own skills in order to be more effective in their local leadership roles. These seminars take place four times per year, over the holidays of Simchat Torah and Shavuot, and during summer and winter vacations. There are mini-seminars run for smaller groups of Am-Echad participants throughout the year, often over a Jewish holiday. This year mini-seminars on Rosh Hashana, Purim, and Pesach were held.

Two one-week camps per summer are run in the seminar center. The first is for young teenagers, between the ages of 12 and 16, from Frankfurt and communities in or near Bavaria, including Würzburg, Nürnberg, Regensburg, Bamberg, and Fulda. The second is for youth of the same age from communities in Saxony, including Leipzig, Halle, Chemnitz, and Dresden.

Shabbat Programs are conducted once a month for 40 children between the ages of 12 and 16 from the Bayern region. Many of the participants attend the summer camps as well, and come to the Shabbatonim in order to reinforce their Jewish education, and to maintain contact with their Madrichim and friends.

Szarvas
In addition, The Ronald S. Lauder Foundation enables over 35 children and Madrichim from Germany to spend two weeks at The Ronald S. Lauder Foundation/American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee International Summer Camp at Szarvas, Hungary.