A German-Trained American Rabbi in Yorkshire

(For anyone that did not read my original post, please take a peak one below first !) For me, the most immediate effect of Thursday’s historic ordination of Abraham Geiger Kolleg graduates is that I no longer have to explain myself or put parenthesis around my statements when people ask me which Rabbinical School I will be attending. As we say in the software world, “Do you really want to be in the bleeding edge?” Sandra and I always have received from most (but not all) folks a little bit of the, “Yeah, right,” look whenever we told/described/explained that we would be moving to Germany to go to rabbinical school. In all seriousness, I just want to say that the world coverage, the unanimous world recognition of the significance of this event, and the support that I have received from many of you via email has moved me. Thank you all for your ongoing support, and now that the world has peeked into this phenomenal thing that is happening, I just want to add one last item t...

(Photo note: I thought a photo of building in the New City would be an apt metaphore for the rest of the post.) Folks, this is a monumental moment. The Abraham Geiger Kolleg at the University of Potsdam , the rabbinical school that I will be attending beginning October 2007, will be ordaining three rabbis at the newly rebuilt synagogue in Dresden on Thursday (September 14, 2006). This is the first rabbinical ordination in Germany since the Holocaust. I want everyone to take a minute (really, please do this) and think about this. Raise your hands if you would have predicted this 20 years ago. Right—me neither. Let there be no confusion about this – this is a testament both to Jews and to Germans. This is a pure and tangible example of healing through all the things that lead to healing—hard work, sweat, necessity, opportunity, and dare I say, a universal and spiritual imperative to heal . I knew this was coming and knew it was a big deal, but the article that one...