MENDELSSOHN PRIZE AWARDED TO RABBI NACHAMA

Andreas Nachama, rabbi at the House of One and a founding member of the foundation, has been awarded the State of Berlin’s 2026 Moses Mendelssohn Prize. The prize honours his many years of commitment to tolerance, mutual understanding and dialogue between religions and peoples.

The laudatory speech was delivered by Imam Kadir Sanci, who has worked alongside Nachama at the House of One for many years. Sanci described his work with Rabbi Nachama, Pastor Marion Gardei and the foundation’s entire multireligious team as one in which “dialogue partners became colleagues, colleagues became friends, and friends became siblings”. Over the years, friendship and trust were able to grow.

IMAM DELIVERS LAUDATORY SPEECH FOR RABBI

“Twenty years ago, it would have been unlikely for an imam to deliver a laudatory speech for a rabbi at an award ceremony. The fact that it is possible today is thanks to you,” Sanci said in the packed Mendelssohn Remise. There was not enough room for all the guests inside, so additional benches had been arranged around a screen in the courtyard, where the ceremony was broadcast live.

When faced with the frequently expressed concern that the three religions would be blended together at the House of One, Nachama always had a clear response: “We certainly are not going to create an Esperanto religion. We are simply together, each of us within our own tradition.” And when a journalist asked how often the three of them argued, Nachama turned to his colleagues and asked: “Have we ever had a proper argument? I don’t think so. The point is that we do not argue with one another; we argue together against others.”

THE RUPTURE AFTER 7 OCTOBER

Such dialogue changes a person, Nachama once said. It also changes the way we see others when we pursue a shared mission together over such a long period of time.

After 7 October 2023, when many people withdrew from Jewish-Muslim dialogue, Nachama, Sanci and Gardei remained committed to their shared path. Nachama publicly urged: “We mourn ALL victims. We must try to break free from the spiral of violence.” At the same time, he did not downplay what had happened, but spoke of a “rupture” that would undoubtedly take years to overcome.

Sanci concluded his speech with the words: “I would like to declare you a hero of peace for our time. You have earned it.”

You can read the full laudatory speech here: (Click here)

TRIBUTE FROM THE BERLIN SENATE

Alexander Straßmeir, State Secretary at the Senate Department for Culture and Social Cohesion, welcomed the jury’s decision. In honouring Andreas Nachama, he said, Berlin was recognising someone who had worked tirelessly for many years, holding numerous honorary positions and promoting mutual understanding between people as well as Jewish life in Germany.

A LIFE BETWEEN REMEMBRANCE AND REBUILDING

Andreas Nachama was born in West Berlin in 1951 to Holocaust survivors. His father Estrongo, known as “the singer of Auschwitz”, served as chief cantor of the Jewish Community of Berlin after the war. From 1994 to 2019, Andreas Nachama headed the Topography of Terror Foundation. Since 2023, he has led the Abraham Geiger College, a seminary for rabbis and cantors. The Jewish cleric joined the House of One in 2015 as the successor to Rabbi Tovia Ben-Chorin and became a co-founder of the foundation in 2016.

He served as chair of the Jewish Community of Berlin while also sitting on the board of directors of the Central Council of Jews in Germany and serving as a governor of the World Union for Progressive Judaism. Alongside his other roles, Nachama was artistic director of the Jewish Culture Days in Berlin, founding dean of Touro College Berlin/New York and chair of the General Rabbinical Conference. The list of his commitments has always been long – and remains so to this day.

Or, in the words of Imam Sanci: “A man who could have retired long ago is taking responsibility for the future.”

MOSES MENDELSSOHN PRIZE

The Moses Mendelssohn Prize was established by the Berlin Senate in 1979, on the 250th anniversary of the birth of the Jewish Enlightenment philosopher Moses Mendelssohn, following an initiative by the Mendelssohn Society. It is awarded every two years. In 2024, the prize went to Oz Ben David and Jalil Dabit of Kanaan, the Palestinian-Israeli restaurant in Berlin, which has unfortunately since closed.