Whether in dangerous foreign missions or in the barracks in Germany: Christian soldiers in the Bundeswehr have their own military chaplains whom they can confide in and celebrate with. But there should also be pastoral assistance in the troop for Jewish soldiers, the Central Council of Jews in Germany has now demanded - and proposed its own military rabbi.
The pastors of the Christian churches made an important contribution to the ethical education of the soldiers, writes Central Council President Josef Schuster in a guest contribution for the "Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung". "But 70 years after the end of the Second World War, it would also be time to re-establish a Jewish military pastoral care in the Bundeswehr and thus to build on an old tradition," it said.
Germany as a home
Decades after the war, when it was unimaginable for most Jews to serve in a German army because of the involvement of the Wehrmacht in the Schoah, the situation had changed, Schuster said. "Young Jews, of course, regard Germany as their home."
Between 250 and 300 Jewish soldiers are currently in the Bundeswehr. Therefore, the Jewish community wished military pastoral care based on a state treaty. The Protestant and the Catholic Church, in addition to clerics for the troops each have military bishops.