Walter Homolka

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Walter Homolka (2007)
Papal audience on October 28, 2015 on the occasion of 50 years of Nostra Aetate . Pope Francis greets Rabbi Walter Homolka

Walter Homolka (born May 21, 1964 in Landau an der Isar ) is a German rabbi and university professor. At the University of Potsdam he is rector of the Abraham Geiger College, which he co-founded in 1999, and has been a full professor for Jewish religious philosophy of the modern age with a focus on Jewish denominations and interreligious dialogue since 2014 . He is Managing Director of the School of Jewish Theology at the University of Potsdam.

Life

Originally from a Catholic family, Walter Homolka converted to Judaism at the age of 17. According to his own account, he was fascinated by the Jewish doctrine of "a hidden God"; He also wanted to distance himself from the “monopoly of meaning” in his Catholic environment. "I do not want my personal decision as a youngster for Judaism to be understood as a value decision compared to other religions," emphasizes Homolka. “It is more that God places people where God has a task. Nothing more and nothing less. ”After graduating from high school, he studied theology , philosophy and Jewish studies with a scholarship from the German Academic Scholarship Foundation and the DAAD ( German Academic Exchange Service ). He graduated in 1986 with a “ Bachelor theologiae seu divinitatis” ( Ludwig Maximilians University, Munich ). He continued his studies at Leo Baeck College in London. In 1989 he acquired a certificate for adult education ( University of Philosophy Munich ). In 1992 he received his doctorate from King's College London with a thesis on Rabbi Leo Baeck and German Protestantism . He earned an MPhil in Jewish Studies (1993) and a PhD on Jewish Life-Jesus Research as a Postcolonial Phenomenon and its Effects on Judeo-Christian Dialogue (2015) from St. David's University College Lampeter , University of Wales . After graduating from Leo Baeck College, he was ordained a rabbi on June 2, 1997 . In 1999 Homolka received a Marshall Memorial Fellowship from the German Marshall Fund of the United States . The rabbi of the liberal community in Munich and state rabbi of Lower Saxony was Moses Mendelssohn Fellow of the Moses Mendelssohn Center for European-Jewish Studies at the University of Potsdam from 1999–2002 .

After a professional career at Bayerische Hypotheken- und Wechselbank , Bertelsmann , Greenpeace , the Alfred Herrhausen Society for International Dialogue and the Culture Foundation of Deutsche Bank AG, Walter Homolka became Rector of the Abraham Geiger College in September 2002 , the first rabbinical seminary in Germany since the Shoah .

From 2006 to 2015 he was a columnist for the Austrian weekly newspaper Die Furche .

Homolka taught from 2007 to 2014 as an honorary professor in the Philosophical Faculty at the University of Potsdam and held various visiting professorships, e. B. at the New York University , the Catholic Péter Pázmány University in Budapest , the Canonical Institute Potsdam, the theological academic year at the Dormition Abbey in Jerusalem (35th academic year 2009; 44th academic year 2018) and the Old Dominion University in Norfolk , Virginia.

In protest against the reformulation of the Good Friday intercession for the Jews by Pope Benedict XVI. In 2008, Homolka canceled his participation in the 97th German Catholic Day because prayer approved of the mission to the Jews . He declared that God had called the Jews to be “light among the peoples”, so there was certainly no need for enlightenment from the Catholic Church. He also accused the Catholic Church of not having its " anti-Semitic tendencies" under control. However, Homolka continues to engage in interreligious dialogue .

In 2014 he became professor for the philosophy of religion of the modern age, with a focus on denominations and interreligious dialogue , at the School of Jewish Theology at the University of Potsdam, founded in 2013 .

Homolka has 2020 colonel of the reserve at the Defense Ministry , before he was lieutenant colonel .

On July 30, 2017 he was appointed chairman of the Union of Progressive Jews in Germany Kdö.R. elected.

Further offices and memberships

He is a member of

Homolka was a member of the “Jewish Studies Advisory Board” at Princeton University and a deputy member of the foundation board of the Berliner Philharmoniker , a member of the Hessian Culture Commission and a member of the supervisory board of the Österreichische Bundestheater Holding . From 1997 to 2000 and again from 2004 he was a member of the Governing Body of the World Union for Progressive Judaism . From 1997 to 2000 he was a member of the board of the Union of Progressive Jews in Germany , Austria and Switzerland, from 2003 to 2015 chairman of the board of trustees of the Ursula Lübbe Foundation and until 2014 a member of the board of trustees of the Eugen Biser Foundation.

Awards (selection)

Walter Homolka receives the Great Silver Medal of Honor with the Star for Services to the Republic of Austria (2016)

Fonts (selection)

As an author

  • Environmental fund. Invest in the future. Economica, Bonn 1990, ISBN 3-926831-79-0 .
  • My father was an Aramean who was close to the end ... The “little historical creed” and its history in the midrash of the Passover Haggadah. Hänsel-Hohenhausen, Egelsbach 1993.
  • Leo Baeck: Jewish Thought - Perspectives for Today. Herder, Freiburg 2006.
  • Jewish marriage law. De Gruyter, Berlin 2009.
  • Jesus of Nazareth in the mirror of Jewish research (= Jewish miniatures. Volume 85). Published by Centrum Judaicum . Hentrich & Hentrich, Berlin 2009; 2nd edition 2010; 3rd edition 2011, ISBN 978-3-942271-01-1 .
    • English, edited and expanded edition: Jesus Reclaimed - Jewish Perspectives on the Nazarene. Berghahn, New York / Oxford 2015.
  • Jewish Jesus Research and its Challenge for Christology Today. Brill, Leiden 2017.
  • Pluralization - opportunity and challenge . On the situation of the Jewish community in Germany (=  Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung , Main Department Politics and Consulting [Hrsg.]: Monitor Religion und Politik ). Bonn September 21, 2016 ( freepdfhosting.com ( Memento from November 29, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) [accessed on October 2, 2018] Memento in the Internet Archive ).
  • Transitions. Observations of a Rabbi. Preface by Margot Käßmann . Patmos Verlag, Ostfildern 2017, ISBN 978-3-8436-0924-1 .

As a co-author

  • With Albert H. Friedlander : From the Flood to Paradise. Peace as a key term in Jewish theology (= Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft [Hrsg.]: WB-Forum. 78). Scientific Book Society, Darmstadt 1993, ISBN 3-534-80147-4 .
  • With Kenneth Dyson: Culture First. Promoting Standards in the New Media Age. Cassell, London 1996.
  • With Jonathan Romain: Progressive Judaism. Life and teaching. Knesebeck, Munich 1999.
  • With Gilbert S. Rosenthal: Judaism has many faces. The religious currents of the present. Knesebeck, Munich 1999.
  • With Martin Bauschke and Rabeya Müller : Together before God. Prayers from Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Gütersloher Verlagshaus, Gütersloh 2004; 2nd edition 2006.
  • With Elias H. Füllenbach OP: Leo Baeck. A sketch of his life. Gütersloh publishing house, Gütersloh 2006.
  • With Hans Küng : Global Ethic from the Sources of Judaism. Herder, Freiburg i. Br./Basel/Wien 2008, ISBN 978-3-451-32115-3 .
    • English translation: How to Do Good and Avoid Evil - A Global Ethic from the Sources of Judaism. Translation by John Bowden. SkyLight Paths Publishers, Woodstock, Vt. 2009, ISBN 978-1-59473-255-3 .
  • With Andreas Nachama and Hartmut Bomhoff : Basic knowledge of Judaism. Herder, Freiburg im Breisgau 2015, ISBN 978-3-451-32393-5 .
  • With Shimon Shetreet: Jewish and Israeli Law. An Introduction. De Gruyter, Berlin 2017, ISBN 978-3-89949-793-9 , urn : nbn: de: 101: 1-201705174107 (English).

Lexicons

  • Religion in Past and Present (RGG. 4th edition) [Article: Julius Guttmann; Schalom Ben Chorin ], Staatslexikon der Görres-Gesellschaft (8th edition) [Art .: Jewish Organizations ], Encyclopedia of the Bible and its Reception (EBR) [Art .: Abraham Geiger; Leo Baeck ], Lexicon for Church and Religious Law (LKRR) [Art .: marriage; Adultery; Marriage unit; Obstacles to marriage; Marriage law; Marriage; Jewish University; Judaism in Germany ], Evangelical Lexicon for Theology and Congregation [Art .: Schalom Ben Chorin ]

As editor

  • Shalom Ben-Chorin . A life for dialogue. Gütersloher Verlagshaus, Gütersloh 1999, ISBN 3-579-02293-8 (collection of quotations).
  • Leo Baeck - Philosophical and Rabbinical Approaches (= From Religion and Law. Volume 9). Introduction by Thomas Rachel . Frank & Timme, Berlin 2007, ISBN 978-3-86596-115-0 (conference publication, 2006, Berlin; contributions partly in German, partly in English).
  • Abundant peace come from heaven. The most beautiful prayers of Judaism (= The most beautiful prayers of the world religions. Herder spectrum. Volume 6401). Herder, Freiburg 2011, ISBN 978-3-451-06401-2 .
  • Moshe Chaim Luzzatto : The Way of the Pious. A selection. Anaconda Verlag, Cologne 2017, ISBN 978-3-7306-0499-1 .

As co-editor

Rows

  • Series From Religion and Law. Frank & Timme, Berlin 2005–, ISSN  1860-8388 .
  • With Johannes CS Frank: Series of publications by the Ernst Ludwig Ehrlich Studienwerk. Hentrich & Hentrich, Berlin 2017–, ISSN  2566-8064 .

Web links

Commons : Walter Homolka  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Caroline Fetscher : Walter Homolka: "A Renaissance of Judaism". In: Potsdam's latest news . November 19, 2013. Retrieved June 23, 2018.
  2. ↑ See Isa 45.15  EU as well as the Christian reception with the doctrine of the Deus absconditus .
  3. ↑ Caroline Fetscher: The rabbi at the green oar. (PDF; 13 kB) (No longer available online.) In: Der Tagesspiegel . May 30, 1998, archived from the original on January 17, 2018 ; accessed on June 23, 2018 (full text in whomolka.de ).
  4. ↑ Yvonne Jennerjahn: Rabbi with a green past. In: PNN . October 19, 2012, accessed March 20, 2017.
  5. ↑ 90 years, 90 heads. In: studienstiftung.de, accessed on December 15, 2015.
  6. ↑ See, for example. Isaiah 60.1 to 22  EU as well as Isaiah 49.5  EU Pinchas Lapide : Is Judaism a Great Commission? In: Walter Homolka, Esther Seidel (Ed.): Not through birth alone. Convert to Judaism (=  From religion and law . Band 5 ). 3. Edition. Frank & Timme, Berlin 2006, ISBN 3-86596-079-0 , pp. 19–30, here: 23 f . (With an introduction by Pinchas Lapide. Revised, updated and expanded reprint of the 1995 edition).
  7. ↑ Yvonne Jennerjahn: Rabbi Homolka is now a university professor. In: PNN. May 21, 2014, accessed March 20, 2017.
  8. ↑ It took me as a guy. In: bundeswehr.de, July 30, 2020, accessed on July 31, 2020.
  9. ^ Roland Kaufhold: Strong Liberals. The association invited to the annual meeting and elected Walter Homolka as the new chairman. In: Jüdische Allgemeine. August 3, 2017. Retrieved August 3, 2017 .
  10. ↑ Board of Directors. Chairman: Rabbi Dr. Walter Homolka. In: leo-baeck-foundation.org, accessed October 27, 2016.
  11. ^ Imprint of the Zacharias Frankel College website. In: zacharias-frankel-college.de, accessed on March 21, 2017.
  12. ^ Directory. Center for Jewish Studies Berlin-Brandenburg. In: selma-stern-zentrum.de, accessed on July 31, 2020.
  13. ↑ Seven new members in the ORF III cultural advisory board. In: orf.at, accessed on August 3, 2018.
  14. ^ Friedmann Eißler: Founding association for the interreligious center in Berlin. In: EZW material service . Vol. 2011, No. 12, p. 466 ( ezw-berlin.de accessed on March 21, 2017).
  15. ↑ a b List of all decorations awarded by the Federal President for services to the Republic of Austria from 1952. (PDF; 6.8 MB) p. 1438. In: parlament.gv.at, April 23, 2012, accessed on October 27, 2016 .
  16. ↑ Decree no. 902/2002 privind conferirea Ordinului naţional Serviciul Credincios în grad de Ofiţer. Preşedintele României , lege5.ro, November 13, 2002; Retrieved October 27, 2016 ( decree of November 7, 2002 ).
  17. ↑ Dr. Walter Homolka to Receive Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa, at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion Graduation Ceremonies . Hebrew Union College, April 6, 2009; accessed March 21, 2017.
  18. ^ Burkhard Schmidtke: Walter Homolka awarded the Bundeswehr Cross of Honor. December 2, 2010, archived from the original on December 6, 2010 ; accessed on January 11, 2014 .
  19. ↑ BMVg press release. In: bmvg.de. Federal Ministry of Defense , archived from the original on January 11, 2014 ; accessed on June 23, 2018 (photo with caption).
  20. ↑ Raschid Bockemühl: Diversity is the reality of the societies of our time. On the presentation of the Chelebi Peace Prize 2011 to Rabbi Walter Homolka and editor of the interreligious calendar “Together 2011 - Jews, Christians, Muslims”. In: islam.de. November 1, 2011, accessed December 15, 2015.
  21. ↑ Excerpt from Professor Homolka's speech on the occasion of the award of the Federal Cross of Merit, 1st class. Evangelical Church District Berlin-Stadtmitte , February 27, 2015; accessed on October 27, 2016.
  22. ↑ Walter Homolka honored as "Reconciler of the Year". Press release of the University of Potsdam, March 3, 2018; accessed on June 11, 2018.
  23. ↑ Awarded the Berlin State Order. In: berlin.de. Press and Information Office of the State of Berlin, September 27, 2018, accessed on September 28, 2018 .
personal data
SURNAME Homolka, Walter
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German rabbi and university professor
DATE OF BIRTH May 21, 1964
PLACE OF BIRTH Landau on the Isar