A Jewish community outreach group in Germany has hit on an eye-catching name for its program of educational seminars - Rent-a-Jew.

Group spokesperson Mascha Schmerling admitted that the title was deliberately provocative - but she hopes it will serve to promote conversation.

"We want to give people the chance to talk to the Jewish community," Schmerling told German broadcaster Deutsche Welle. "We want them to see that we're completely normal people. We don't want to be defined purely by history and we don't want to always be seen through this Holocaust lens."