Diplomas for first rabbis since war
The first rabbis ordained in Poland since World War II received their diplomas from Warsaw’s Rabbinical College, PAP news agency said.
Nine students from the United States and Israel were granted rabbinical rights at a ceremony presided over by Poland’s chief rabbi, U.S.-born Michael Schudrich, and attended by Jewish clergy from Poland, Israel and Britain.
“This was a ceremony of historic proportions,” said Rabbi Szalom Ber Stambler, who heads the college.
Most of Poland’s 3.5 million Jews were killed by the Nazis in ghettos and extermination camps.
Since communist rule ended in 1989, a Jewish religious and cultural renaissance has been underway. The college was reestablished in 2005.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
