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Walter Homolka

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Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert and Rabbi Walter Homolka in 2007

Walter Homolka (born 21 May 1964, Landau an der Isar) is a German rabbi.[1]

A convert to Judaism,[2] Homolka studied in Munich, London, Lampeter and Leipzig and has a PhD from King's College London. He is an adjunct full professor at the University of Potsdam and rector at its Abraham Geiger College, which was founded in 1999.

On 14 September 2006, Homolka ordained the first three[citation needed] rabbis in Germany since the Holocaust at the New Synagogue of Dresden. Homolka is chairman of the Leo Baeck Foundation and an executive board member of the World Union for Progressive Judaism. In 2007, he established the Jewish Institute of Cantorial Arts, of which he is the president. A member of the French Legion of Honour, he is widely published internationally and holds a variety of distinctions. The Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion conferred upon him a "Doctor Humanarum Litterarum" honoris causa.

Homolka is active in Jewish-Christian dialogue as a guest at the Central Committee of German Catholics. In 2008, he condemned the new Good Friday Prayer instituted by Pope Benedict XVI.[3]

Controversy and scandal

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In May 2022, several newspapers in Germany featured a series of in-depth reports on sexual misconduct by Homolka and his husband, including inappropriate behaviour that was targeted at students of the Abraham Geiger College he founded and where he served as rector. As a result, Homolka was forced to announce he was temporarily stepping down from all his roles.[4]

The results of an investigation by an independent commission of the University of Potsdam published in October 2022 confirmed the accusation of abuse of power at the Abraham Geiger Kolleg by Homolka, but no sexual harassment. Specifically, Homolka was found to have "exploited institutional power and dependency relationships". In the process, decisions had been made "which had a very negative impact on the further life and career of the persons concerned and for which Mr. Homolka was personally attributed responsibility due to the abundance of his direct and indirect possibilities of influence."

The investigative commission made recommendations for the unbundling of Homolka's management functions, the establishment of independent control bodies and a review of rules of procedure. Homolka was approved for a semester off for the 2022/23 winter semester. There were no criminal or civil service consequences for Homolka. He remains a civil servant and is on leave of absence.[5]

Since 2022, allegations of plagiarism against him have been investigated. According to research by the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, in his English-language doctoral thesis, with which he received his doctorate from King's College in London in 1992, he took more than 60 pages, a quarter of the dissertation, from the unpublished exam paper "Normativity and History" (1986) by the Protestant theologian and later Freiburg PH professor Dorothee Schlenke, without citing the source. On 14 June 2022, King's College removed the writing from its online library.[6]

In January 2023, Homolka ceded ownership of both the Abraham Geiger College, aligned with the Reform movement, and the Zecharis Frankel College, aligned with the Conservative movement. The Abraham Geiger College was acquired by the Jewish Community of Berlin, which announced that Rabbi Homolka would have no role at the restructured institution.[7]

Honours and awards

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References

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  1. ^ Official website, whomolka.de. Accessed 7 March 2024.
  2. ^ Axelrod, Toby (14 September 2022). "Is there such a thing as too many converts to Judaism? The debate roils German Jewry". Times of Israel. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
  3. ^ "Leading German Rabbi Condemns Pope's Good Friday Prayer", spiegel.de. Accessed 7 March 2024.
  4. ^ "Reform German rabbi steps down after being accused of sexual misconduct". 9 May 2022.
  5. ^ Kommission bestätigt Machtmissbrauch an liberalem Rabbinerkolleg, faz.net, 26 October 2022. Retrieved 8 March 2023.
  6. ^ Ein Plagiat von mehr als 60 Seiten, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 17 February 2023. Retrieved 8 March 2023.
  7. ^ "In a twist, German rabbi at scandal's center cedes rabbinical school ownership to Berlin Jews". Jerusalem Post. 13 January 2023. Retrieved 10 May 2023.
  8. ^ "Reply to a parliamentary question" (PDF) (in German). p. 1759. Retrieved 16 November 2012.
  9. ^ "Reply to a parliamentary question" (PDF) (in German). p. 1438. Retrieved 16 November 2012.
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