The President

Dear Friends,

As Liberal Judaism grows in Central and Eastern Europe, so does the need for rabbis. Our initial group of students at the Abraham Geiger College is moving toward meeting this critical demand. The students are idealistic and highly motivated and it is a pleasure to teach them. Their efforts in congregations as student rabbis are met with enthusiasm and they will provide good leadership to the Jewish community. We are grateful to our small faculty and staff as well as the number of rabbinic mentors of our students.

It is our task to serve the broad spectrum of Liberal Judaism. As this movement had its birth in Germany and dominated German Jewish life for a century and a half, we are building on a strong foundation. Our tradition produced people like Rabbi Abraham Geiger and Rabbi Leo Baeck and many others who led the Jewish world so brilliantly. They are our role models for leadership in the contemporary Jewish community. Even as we revere the past, we look forward into a bright future for Liberal Judaism. The hundreds of thousands of Russian Jews, both in the former Soviet Union and as new immigrants in Germany and neighbouring lands, need a Judaism which looks ahead and can meet the challenges of the modern world. We are the ones able to undertake this task and the Abraham Geiger College is central to this effort.
With gratitude for the successes of the year which has ended, we look forward to the tasks ahead.

Oberrabbiner Prof. Dr. Walter Jacob

President