Had Alina Treiger been a man, her story would hardly cause a stir.
Born in the Ukrainian city of Poltava, she became the second female rabbi in the history of Germany on March 27 and the first one ordained since the end of the World War II.
“I have not always wanted to be a rabbi, as it is not common for women,” said Treiger, 32, now the spiritual leader of a 400-member Jewish community in the towns of Oldenburg and Delmenhorst in the north of Germany. “I didn’t know what it would feel like for a woman to be in this profession. [Although there were precedents,] those women’s personalities were so different that it is hard to relate to one example.”
I have not always wanted to be a rabbi, as it is not common for women.”
– Alina Treiger, rabbi.
Jewish history during World War II is one of the most tragic in human history. Millions of Jews were killed in concentration camps. Before Treiger, there was rabbi Regina Jonas. She was killed in the Auschwitz concentration camp in 1942.
The Nazi atrocities threatened to exterminate European Jews, but they failed. Some 119,000 Jewish people live in Germany now. A couple of colleges have been opened recently for those who want to take up religious studies. Abraham Geiger College, which enrolls women, is one of them, and Treiger is their first female graduate.
In Ukraine, she grew up in a secular home but “we were always the Treiger family and I was a Jewish kid.” When she turned 12, she started wondering about her roots and decided to study Hebrew and Jewish history. “[At that time] many Jews were rediscovering their roots and traditions and religion was one of the ways for Jewish self- identification,” said the rabbi. “I happened to be into religion a lot, I loved studying it.”
In the 2000s, Treiger and two other students were selected to get rabbinic education. “Since it was progressive Judaism this opportunity was open equally to both boys and girls,” says Treiger.
In Ukraine, opinions about Treiger’s appointment vary.
David Milman, rabbi’s aide in the Kyiv Choral synagogue, said that Orthodox Jews are indignant.
Let’s say you have a diamond ring. You wouldn’t use it to crack nuts, would you? It is too precious. The main career for a woman is her family. We are against women building careers. Not because we look down on them but because we value them very much.”
– David Milman, rabbi’s aide in the Kyiv Choral synagogue.
“Let’s say you have a diamond ring. You wouldn’t use it to crack nuts, would you? It is too precious,” explained Milman. “The main career for a woman is her family. We are against women building careers. Not because we look down on them but because we value them very much.”
Nevertheless, 22-year old Treiger took her chance to study in Germany on a program from the World Union for Progressive Judaism.
“Learning German was the most difficult part,” she recalled. “I spoke Hebrew pretty well by that time.” Now she sometimes stumbles in an attempt to find a Russian word, though most of her community members come from post-Soviet countries.
Every year she goes back to Poltava to visit her mother. “Right now the older generation learns about the traditions and religion together with the youngsters,” said Treiger, drawing the parallel between situations in Germany and Ukraine.
The rabbi considers reviving the Jewish community in Germany her main calling. “I want the younger generation to know what Jewish holidays and upbringing are so they would identify with traditions instead of the atrocities the older generation went through. Some people are still afraid to say they are Jewish. I want the younger generation to have no such fear,” she added.
Though her case is unique for Germany, she doesn’t encounter any resistance from Orthodox Jews there. “The Jewish community is very united in Germany. There are so many ways to practice Judaism. It is not only about wearing a black cap,” said Treiger.
President of Independent Council of Jewish Woman, Eleonora Groisman, thinks that Treiger will make a difference.
“Our world is changing and women are getting more and more involved,” Groisman said. “A lot of people are ready to hear a word of faith from a woman, as some aspects she understands differently from a man – in a more subtle way.”
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Kyiv Post staff writer Nataliya Horban can be reached at [email protected]
