Horror of horrors. One would have thought that the Holocaust marked the end of the long cruel exile. Here we have reform rabbis (one of the causes of the holocaust) extending this punishing exile. Rather come to your own land and learn authentic Torah judaism in Eretz Yisrael.

What's the difference of a rabbi trained in the US and Germany. Or do you allude to Rabbis outside Israel in general?

Why would any self respecting Jew want to live in Germany? We're supposed to be "smart" people. These German rabbis must be an exception to this claim.

did they also cause the yom kippur war? and 9/11 ?

One of the new rabbis (D. Alter) told German radio yesterday that he is afraid to wear his kippah in the open for fear of being aggressed. So he is wearing a baseball cap when he is outside. On many occasions people that could be recognised as observant Jews were harassed and even beaten up in the street, Black people were even beaten to death not far from the capital city of Berlin. So the actual situation in Germany is this: you have a new rabbi who is afraid of showing openly that he is a rabbi. The Jewish community in Germany would have been history since long if not for the immigrants from the former Soviet Union. They are making up for more than 80% of the members, many of them having no ties with Judaism and for many of them Israel had paid to receive exit visas for Aliya. After getting the benefits of new olim in Israel, they moved to Germany after a few years.

Don't you know Aaron - on the one side, all the evil in the world is because we don't keep the mitzvot... Letting Harhabait lie in ruins not the least of them.

I'm a Brazilian Jew, born and raised, and ## 4 and 6's perspectives are exactly like mine. I simply cannot understand why Jews chose to come back to the epicenter of the Holocaust, to a place where every single tiny bit of Jewish life had been wiped out, to a country where there was nothing for them and where the echoes of the past are still very strong (pls read #6 post). In our world, a globalized one where all the borders are free, how can a self-respecting jew desire to live in such a country???

Gentleman - simple 'Congratulation and good luck ' would be enaugh!!

Anyone who does not rejoice with us here in Germany over this historic first ordination should be ashamed of themselves. The Reform movement was established in Germany and survived the Shoah by establishing itself in the USA, UK and now even in Israel. Progressive/Reform Jewry is the largest religious movement in the world, is alive and well in more than 40 countries and 6 continents. We leaders of Progressive Judaism in Germany laud the Abraham Geiger Coillege and the Central Council of Jews of Germany along with the World Union for Progressive Judaism for making this historic moment possible. These 3 rabbis will serve their communities well. We congratulate them all. There are congregations, Reform, Conservative and Orthodox, waiting in line for all the rabbis the Abraham Geiger College will graduate in the future. From strength to strength! Mazal Tov to these young men and to all of us here in Germany who are re-establishing Jewish life here.

I'm in New York and I am very impressed with the entire ordination. And to be able to actually see a video of it added to my pleasure of knowing that finally, Jews are able to have a Jewish seminary in Germany. I grew up in Yonkers NY. I was chased as a kid because I was Jewish. You didn't have to live in Germany to know the lash of anti-semitism. We had it right here in the USA. I'll NEVER forget Henry Zinner, who worked for my father, who hated Jews, and dad could not fire him because he couldn't hire someone else during the war. I will NEVER forget.

How dare you say reform rabbis caused the holocaust, it was caused by intolerant bigots like you.

israel could learn not to violate church and state from germany, since ww2 the germans were far more ethical than the anti reform bigots of orthodox controlled israel, or shall i say nazisrael, to each his own is a nice motto, try it