Rabbi Wolff: A Gentleman Before God | Jewish communities in rural Germany

William Wolff is in his late 80s and is probably the most unconventional rabbi in the world.

The small gentleman was born in Berlin, carries a British passport and lives in a countryside bungalow south of London. His regular commute takes him midweek from Heathrow to Hamburg, from where he boards a train and travels to his Jewish communities in Schwerin and Rostock. After the Saturday service it's back home to London for the rabbi, unless of course he's visiting relatives in Jerusalem, at a fasting-retreat in Bad Pyrmont or at the races in Ascot. After all: life should be fun, says Willy Wolff.

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With his free-spirited flair and heartwarming laugh, the State Rabbi from Mecklenburg-Vorpommern won the audience's hearts in Britta Wauer's film "In Heaven, Underground" (2011), a documentary on the Jewish cemetery in Berlin-Weißensee. Wauer's new film portrays the turbulent daily life of Willy Wolff and unwraps the folds of his eventful past, from fleeing Nazi Germany with his family as a child, to leaving behind his London-based career as a political correspondent to become a most respected, multilingual rabbi.

Rabbi Wolff is not only the portrait of a fascinating personality, of a deeply religious man who defies conventions, driven by his lust for life; the film also delves into the enticing world of Judaism and presents to us a uniquely eclectic, German resumé.

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