From the DW:
“Germany: Bundeswehr to employ
military rabbis to combat anti-Semitism”
The German military is set to
employ rabbis after allowing Christian pastoral care for decades. The move is
expected to help combat anti-Semitism in the armed forces. The German military
is set to employ rabbis as chaplains after the federal government agreed on
Wednesday to sign a state treaty with the Central Council of Jews. The Cabinet
decision, which needs to be passed in parliament, will see Germany's main
Jewish organization propose candidates for Jewish pastoral care in the armed
forces and the Bundeswehr will make the final selection. Major Christian faiths
have had pastoral care representatives in the Bundeswehr for decades now,
regulated through a treaty with the churches. Of the approximately 180,000
soldiers, about 90,000 are registered voluntarily as Christians. They are cared
for by Protestant and Catholic pastors. "Today at the Cabinet meeting, we sent an
important signal to our Jewish soldiers," Defense Minister Annegret
Kramp-Karrenbauer said on Twitter. "After about 100 years, we will install
a Jewish military rabbi in the #Bundeswehr again. A clear commitment: Jewish
life is self-evident in our country." There are about 300 soldiers of
Jewish faith and about 3,000 Muslim soldiers serving in the Bundeswehr. There
are plans for Muslim representatives, but this is complicated by the fact that
there is no central Islamic body with which to negotiate. Other European
militaries have successfully introduced rabbis into their forces, including
France and the Netherlands.
^ This is long over-due
especially in a country like Germany with its horrible past of murdering Jews (The
Holocaust.) The ever-increasing rise of Anti-Semitism verbal and physical
attacks in Germany also makes this move even more important. ^
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