Berlin Chief Rabbi Yehuda Teichtal was asked last week to remove his kippah during a security check at Berlin Brandenburg Airport, a request to which he vehemently refused.
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Security personnel tried to explain to the rabbi that it was a standard procedure and that everyone passing through security gates adheres to the instructions. Rabbi Teichtal clarified to them that, as far as he was aware, there was no such directive and he firmly declined.
Upon returning to Berlin last weekend, Rabbi Teichtal held an urgent meeting with the President of the Federal Police of Germany (Präsident Bundespolizei Deutschland) Dr. Dieter Romann. The police chief was shocked to hear about Rabbi Teichtal's experience and explicitly told him that there is no such directive.
"The police chief issued a directive to all federal officers in the country to cease this procedure, which was never official," Rabbi Teichtal says, "Moreover, the president of the police confirmed this officially and also approved its publication."
Rabbi Teichtal took off again Monday morning, and this time he wasn't asked to remove his kippah during the security check. “You can keep your kippah on,” he was told during the inspection.
Rabbi Teichtal concluded, 'While there's no doubt that safety guidelines need to be followed, the directive to remove the kippah - a Jewish symbol that never leaves our heads - was never approved and holds no validity, as the president of the police himself said.”