For the Jewish community in the historic German city of Worms, a commonplace ceremony this Sabbath takes on special significance. A 13-year-old boy, Ilan Walzer, will be ushered into manhood at his bar mitzvah, and though the rite elsewhere is primarily an occasion for rejoicing by family and friends, to Worms it means that the city will now have ten adult Jewish males, the number set by Talmudic law as the minimum for a Jewish congregation. The Jews of Worms already had a synagogue; last month Vice Chancellor Ludwig Erhard and other West German dignitaries attended the dedication of a new...
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