Folgender Artikel meiner Wenigkeit erschien im ORD Magazin zu Rosch haSchana 5775. [20150825: Das war also in September 2014. Obwohl ich ihn erst jetzt, mit einem Jahr Verspätung hochlade, finde ich ihn weiterhin relevant, weil Israel immer im Kern des Weltbewusstsein bleibt, und erst noch jetzt, als über das beängstigende Nuklearabkommen mit dem Iran so viel gesprochen wird. Es ist nicht um sonst, dass die Welt immer über Israel spricht.]
Theologische Betrachtungen zum letzten Gaza Krieg
September 4, 2014
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Posted by Arie Folger
ORD-Seminar in Regensburg
June 25, 2014
Aus der Mittelbayrischen Zeitung:
Auf Einladung ihres Mitglieds Josef Chaim Bloch, Regensburger Gemeinderabbiner (2. von rechts), tagte die Konferenz erstmals in der Welterbestadt. Von Sonntag bis Dienstag besprachen die Gottesmänner Modelle, wie man die Gemeindemitglieder mit koscheren Lebensmitteln versorgen kann. Ein Thema war auch die Begleitung der Gemeindemitglieder vor dem Rabbinatsgericht. Bei einem Empfang am Montag beteten die Rabbiner erstmals gemeinsam mit dem Regensburger Bischof Rudolf Voderholzer und Oberbürgermeister Joachim Wolbergs für Anliegen, die ihnen Menschen anvertraut hatten.
Nebst obige Themen besprachen wir auch den Status der Zivilehe ohne religiöse Eheschließung, der Trennung aus so einer Ehe aus religiösen Sicht, und behandelten überhaupt die Themen Familie und Jugend.
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Posted by Arie Folger
In the Paris Jewish community, more women than men are recalcitrant spouses.
May 16, 2014
I just saw a letter from the lay president of the Paris consistoir (umbrella organization of the Jewish community, which operates the city wide subsidiary institutions, like the beis din), where Mr. Joël Mergui, the lay president, provides statistics for gittin (religious divorces) and for contentious divorce cases at the beis din. They write more than 400 gittin a year. Of those, last year there were 12 men and 16 women who did not present themselves easily or at all before the beis din, requiring further action. Note the surprising larger number of women refusing to cooperate with the beis din. It’s not just newsworthy because of the breakdown of men vs. women, it’s also about the proportion of problem cases. Out of 400, between 16 and 28 demanded extra attention.
The letter was published as part of their weekly newsletter, downloadable here. Scroll down to “Pour une médiation sereine au service des couples.” Read the rest of this entry »
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Posted by Arie Folger
Welcoming the Other: Equal Citizenship in Europe – the contribution of religion
February 15, 2014
Forthcoming March 27th I will be one of the speakers at a joint event between the European Council of Religious Leaders – Religions for Peace and the German federal state of Hessen’s Brussels office. It will be an opportunity to explore the mounting pressures attempting to limit freedom of religion and tolerance for others in Europe. The title of my lecture is provocatively entitled: “Religious practices and expressions: contradicting human rights?”
This will be another step in our interfaith effort to mitigate and counter the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe’s Resolution 1952, from the 1st of October 2013, which encouraged legally constraining religious circumcision. Some previous steps undertaken in this matter were described in a previous blog post.
Eine nichtjüdische Schwiegertochter? Was ein Rabbiner Benjamin Netanjahu raten kann
February 13, 2014
Von Rabbiner Arie Folger – Jüdische Allgemeine 13. Feb. 2013
Manchmal sind die Sorgen eines Premierministers nicht anders als die aller anderen Eltern, obwohl diese sicher schwerwiegender werden, wenn jeder einfache Bürger sich öffentlich einmischt. In dieser Situation befand sich Benjamin Netanjahu, als er vor Kurzem dem Regierungsoberhaupt Norwegens mitteilte, dass sein Sohn Jair mit einer Norwegerin namens Sandra Leikanger, die in Israel studiert, befreundet ist. Klicken Sie hier um weiter zu lesen.
Eine analytische Gedanke, die ich egen der Einschränkungen des Print-Formats nicht in meinem Artikel einschließen konnte, ist die Frage, was wir in solchen Situationen bewirken wollen, oder: warum saßen einst viele Leute Schiwe (trauerten also), wenn ein Kind außerkonfessionell heiratete? Read the rest of this entry »
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Posted by Arie Folger
Meeting Council of Europe Sec. Gen. Jagland Re: Circumcision
January 29, 2014Forthcoming March 27th I will be one of the speakers at a joint event between the European Council of Religious Leaders – Religions for Peace and the Council of Europe’s Brussel’s office. It will be an opportunity to explore the mounting pressures attempting to limit freedom of religion and tolerance for others in Europe. The title of my lecture is provocatively entitled: “Religious practices and expressions: contradicting human rights?”
This will be another step in our interfaith effort to mitigate and counter the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe’s resolution Resolution 1952 (2013), which encouraged legally constraining religious circumcision. Some previous steps undertaken in this matter were described in a previous blog post.On January 20th 2014, I took part in a Jewish-Muslim interfaith mission by the Foundation for Ethnic Understanding, meeting with Council of Europe Secretary General Thorbjørn Jagland, where he reitterated his strong support for religious freedom and cultural tolerance. This came a week ahead of a renewed discussion concerning ritual male infant circumcision at the Council of Europe.
Unfortunately, a the discussion regarding ritual circumcision a mere week after our interfaith meeting with Secretary General Jagland, we could see first hand how some activists won’t stop at anything and will try to claim a moral high ground upon which they can build their castles of intolerance, cloaking their intransigence in arguments supposedly about the rights of the child, while totally ignoring the same children’s rights to be part of a community, for instance a religious community, and to receive their parents’ culture and deeply held values. There remains much work to be done.
Most upsetting was that all Germans who were present and spoke at the January 28th discussion all opposed ritual circumcision. It seems like after losing in the German Bundestag when the latter body passed a law protecting ritual circumcision, they ran to the Council of Europe to sell their intolerant wares. Read the rest of this entry »
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Posted by Arie Folger
Great Videos from the CER in Berlin
November 24, 2013A video from the Guardian and more.
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Posted by Arie Folger
A Priest Returns to his Faith
November 24, 2013
An Israeli secular Jew comes to Germany and joins a church seminary to become a priest. Then, of all places in a Catholic seminary, his soul begins to yearn for Judaism. He begins to observe mitzvot, pray as Jews do and study Torah, all in secret. Then, his yearning for G”d and Torah becomes too strong to remain hidden in the church. To his surprise, Read the rest of this entry »
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Posted by Arie Folger
The CER Berlin Conference in Pictures
November 13, 2013Some pictures from the recent CER conference in Berlin.
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Posted by Arie Folger
Berichte über die CER-Konferenz in Berlin
November 13, 2013Ich komme soeben zurück von der 28. Konferenz der CER (Conference of European Rabbis). Anbei einige Medienberichte.
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Posted by Arie Folger
Mikolot Mayim Rabbim 