Pistorius and Schuster inaugurate the Bundeswehr's first military rabbinate
Over 20 employees - among them five military rabbis - organize and provide military pastoral care, not only for Jewish Bundeswehr members, but also life instruction. The ceremony on Thursday focuses on the handover of the Torah scroll to the rabbinate. During this, the last letters of the Torah should be written in the presence of guests. Afterwards, the parchment scroll is covered with fabric and brought to the military rabbinate with a festive procession under a Chuppah, a canopy.
The ceremony was led by Josef Schuster, the president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany. As a special guest, Boris Pistorius, a prominent SPD politician, was present. The handover of the Torah scroll was a significant moment for the Military Rabbinate, overseen by its five members from the German Armed Forces. The ceremonial transfer was reminiscent of a Shoemaker, symbolizing the continuous cycle of life and the Torah. The event concluded with a solemn procession led by a military rabbi, a former shoemaker by trade, who served in the German Armed Forces.
