Bea Wyler

Bea Wyler (born 1951 in Baden ) is a Swiss rabbi . In 1995 she became the first female rabbi in Germany after the Second World War , practically a successor to the legendary Regina Jonas , whom Rabbi Max Dienemann had ordained in 1935, but who was never allowed to officiate.

Life

Bea Wyler grew up in Wettingen in the Canton of Aargau , studied agronomy at the ETH Zurich specializing in poultry farming and worked as an agricultural journalist. In 1980, the Basler Zeitung hired her as the first female science editor , where she headed the science department . She then worked in the public relations department of a chemical company in Basel and was responsible for the company's publications.

After a stay in Israel she studied in London at Leo Baeck College and in New York at the Jewish Theological Seminary . In May 1995, at the age of 44, she was ordained as a rabbi , which she attaches importance to to this day and can be announced everywhere in this way, ie in male notation - that is her academic title.

On August 1, 1995, the then 44-year-old was employed by the 1992 Jewish community in Oldenburg (Lower Saxony) and the Jewish community in Braunschweig . Sara-Ruth Schumann, community chairwoman in Oldenburg, initiated her recruitment. The inauguration caused a considerable stir in the media and sparked criticism in Orthodox Judaism for rejecting women in the office of rabbi. Ignatz Bubis , chairman of the Central Council of Jews in Germany , stated at the time that he would not attend a service she was leading. You will not be included in the German Rabbinical Conference. As long as he had something to say on the matter, there would be no woman rabbi in Frankfurt.

From 1997 Bea Wyler also worked for the newly founded Jewish community in Delmenhorst . At the Carl von Ossietzky University in Oldenburg , she taught in the interdisciplinary course of Jewish studies established in 1995 .

In May 2004 she gave up her offices in Germany. She returned to Switzerland for family reasons and since then has mainly been teaching and publishing, but also holds church services (mainly in Basel). She is the only female rabbi in Switzerland.

Her successor in Braunschweig was Jonah Sievers in 2002 . In 2006 she was followed by Daniel Alter for two years in the parish in Oldenburg, and in 2010 with Alina Treiger the first female rabbi to be trained in Germany.

literature

Carl-v.-Ossietzky-Universität Oldenburg (ed.): Documentation inauguration of Mrs. Rabbi Bea Wyler on December 17, 1995. Bis, Oldenburg 1997, DNB 952222140 .

Web links

Barbara Beuys: Belief in change. In: Die Zeit , issue 33/1995.
Tanya Lieske: When Frau Rabbi quotes the boss. In: Die Welt online from February 23, 1996.
Bea Wylich: Rabbi address for the establishment of the Jewish Studies course at the Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg. on a.ibit.uni-oldenburg.de (PDF file; 12 kB)

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b Neue Zürcher Zeitung , August 2, 1999.

↑ Rabbi in Germany. In: Freiburg circular. 1996.

↑ Bulletin 2/04 of the Swiss Club for Science Journalism, p. 5. ( Memento of October 13, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) on science-journalism.ch (PDF file)

↑ Frustration in the gallery. For the first time, a Jewish community hired a female rabbi. Critics see the cohesion of Jews in Germany at risk . In: Der Spiegel . No. 32 , 1995, pp. 59-60 ( Online - Aug. 7, 1995 ).

↑ We are not Orthodox. Interview with Sara-Ruth Schumann, the chairwoman of the Jewish community in Oldenburg, Lower Saxony, about the first female German rabbi, Bea Wyler . In: Der Spiegel . No. 31 , 1995, p. 17 ( online - 31 July 1995 ).

↑ Albert H. Friedlander: Obituary: Ignatz Bubis In: The Independent from August 16, 1999 (English).

↑ Female rabbis. In: Christine Müller: On the importance of religion for young Jewish people in Germany. S. 173. (digitized version)

↑ Conference Ten Years OFEK 2009 on safpro.ch (PDF file; 133 kB)

^ Ofek annual report 2005 on ofek.ch

↑ Jüdisches Winterthur ( Memento from April 30, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) on museum-lindengut.ch ( RTF ; 369 kB), press release from the Historisches Verein Winterthur from March 13, 2006.

↑ Irina Leytus: Small but nice: the Braunschweig Jewish community relies on continuity. Central Council of Jews in Germany from June 25, 2004.

^ Felix Zimmermann: Oldenburg without a rabbi. In: the daily newspaper of August 1, 2008.

personal data
SURNAME	Wyler, Bea
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Swiss rabbi
DATE OF BIRTH	1951
PLACE OF BIRTH	Baden , Aargau

[nzz-1] Neue Zürcher Zeitung , August 2, 1999.

[2] Rabbi in Germany. In: Freiburg circular. 1996.

[3] Bulletin 2/04 of the Swiss Club for Science Journalism, p. 5. ( Memento of October 13, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) on science-journalism.ch (PDF file)

[4] Frustration in the gallery. For the first time, a Jewish community hired a female rabbi. Critics see the cohesion of Jews in Germany at risk . In: Der Spiegel . No. 32 , 1995, pp. 59-60 ( Online - Aug. 7, 1995 ).

[5] We are not Orthodox. Interview with Sara-Ruth Schumann, the chairwoman of the Jewish community in Oldenburg, Lower Saxony, about the first female German rabbi, Bea Wyler . In: Der Spiegel . No. 31 , 1995, p. 17 ( online - 31 July 1995 ).

[6] Albert H. Friedlander: Obituary: Ignatz Bubis In: The Independent from August 16, 1999 (English).

[7] Female rabbis. In: Christine Müller: On the importance of religion for young Jewish people in Germany. S. 173. (digitized version)

[8] Conference Ten Years OFEK 2009 on safpro.ch (PDF file; 133 kB)

[9] Ofek annual report 2005 on ofek.ch

[10] Jüdisches Winterthur ( Memento from April 30, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) on museum-lindengut.ch ( RTF ; 369 kB), press release from the Historisches Verein Winterthur from March 13, 2006.