Woman of Ukrainian Origin Appointed Rabbi in Germany

04.11.2010, 13:52
Woman of Ukrainian Origin Appointed Rabbi in Germany - фото 1
For the first time in Germany since 1935, a woman has become a rabbi, the BBC reported.

Рабин.jpgFor the first time in Germany since 1935, a woman has become a rabbi, the BBC reported

Alina Treiger, who moved to Germany from Ukraine 10 years ago, is to be ordained at a ceremony in Berlin attended by rabbis from around the world and by the president of Germany.

Her predecessor, the first woman rabbi in Germany Regina Yonas in 1942, was in the Nazi prisoners' camp of Auschwitz.

Alina Treiger is aware that she follows in the footsteps of Germany's only previous female rabbi.

"Her name was Regina Jonas. She grew up in Berlin and studied in Germany and she was forgotten for a long time," says Ms. Treiger.

Alina was born in Ukraine in 1979. Her father found himself shut out of good jobs because of his Jewishness so Alina became very aware of her own Jewish roots.

But she also felt stifled by the strong Orthodox Jewish community in her home town.

So she packed her suitcase and headed west to Germany, unable to speak German and with no material prospects apart from a welcome from Jewish communities.

"When I came to Germany I came to a Jewish community and to Germany and I see that it is possible to live a Jewish life here."

After Five years of studying, she is making history with her ordination and her new post as a rabbi in Oldenburg in the north-west corner of the country.

"I didn't choose this job," she says. "It chose me."