Walter Homolka (born 21 May 1964,

Landau an der Isar ] Landau an der Isar (, ; Central Bavarian: ''Landa an da Isar'') is the second-largest town in the Lower Bavaria, Lower Bavarian district, or ''Landkreis'', of Dingolfing-Landau, in the state of Bavaria, Germany. It lies on the river Isar, 120 ...

) is a German

rabbi A rabbi (; ) is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi—known as ''semikha''—following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of t ...

. A

convert to Judaism Conversion to Judaism ( or ) is the process by which non-Jews adopt the Jewish religion and become members of the Jewish ethnoreligious community. It thus resembles both conversion to other religions and naturalization. "Thus, by converting ...

, Homolka studied in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

Lampeter Lampeter (; (formal); ''Llambed'' (colloquial)) is a town, community and electoral ward in Ceredigion, Wales, at the confluence of the Afon Dulas with the River Teifi. It is the third largest urban area in Ceredigion, after Aberystwyth and C ...

and

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

and has a

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

from

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public university, public research university in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV ...

. He is an adjunct

full professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a 'person who professes'. Professors ...

at the

University of Potsdam The University of Potsdam is a public university in Potsdam, capital of the state of Brandenburg, northeastern Germany. The university is mainly situated across three campuses in the city. Some faculty buildings are part of the New Palace o ...

and rector at its

Abraham Geiger Abraham Geiger (Hebrew: ''ʼAvrāhām Gayger''; 24 May 181023 October 1874) was a German rabbi and scholar who is considered the founding father of Reform Judaism and the academic field of Quranic studies. Emphasizing Judaism's constant developm ...

College, which was founded in 1999. On 14 September 2006, Homolka ordained the first three rabbis in Germany since the

Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

at the New Synagogue of

Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...

. Homolka is chairman of the

Leo Baeck Leo Baeck (; 23 May 1873 – 2 November 1956) was a 20th-century German rabbi, scholar, and theologian. He served as leader of Reform Judaism in his native country and internationally, and later represented all German Jews during the Nazi ...

Foundation and an executive board member of the

World Union for Progressive Judaism The World Union for Progressive Judaism (WUPJ) is the international umbrella organization for the various branches of Reform Judaism, Reform, Liberal and Progressive Judaism, as well as the separate Reconstructionist Judaism. The WUPJ is based i ...

. In 2007, he established the Jewish Institute of Cantorial Arts, of which he is the president. A member of the French Legion of Honour, he is widely published internationally and holds a variety of distinctions. The

Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

conferred upon him a "Doctor Humanarum Litterarum" honoris causa. Homolka is active in Jewish-Christian dialogue as a guest at the Central Committee of German Catholics. In 2008, he condemned the new Good Friday Prayer instituted by Pope

Benedict XVI Pope BenedictXVI (born Joseph Alois Ratzinger; 16 April 1927 – 31 December 2022) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 19 April 2005 until resignation of Pope Benedict XVI, his resignation on 28 Februar ...

Controversy and scandal

In May 2022, several newspapers in Germany featured a series of in-depth reports on sexual misconduct by Homolka and his husband, including inappropriate behaviour that was targeted at students of the Abraham Geiger College he founded and where he served as rector. As a result, Homolka was forced to announce he was temporarily stepping down from all his roles. The results of an investigation by an independent commission of the

published in October 2022 confirmed the accusation of abuse of power at the Abraham Geiger Kolleg by Homolka, but no sexual harassment. Specifically, Homolka was found to have "exploited institutional power and dependency relationships". In the process, decisions had been made "which had a very negative impact on the further life and career of the persons concerned and for which Mr. Homolka was personally attributed responsibility due to the abundance of his direct and indirect possibilities of influence." The investigative commission made recommendations for the unbundling of Homolka's management functions, the establishment of independent control bodies and a review of rules of procedure. Homolka was approved for a semester off for the 2022/23 winter semester. There were no criminal or civil service consequences for Homolka. He remains a civil servant and is on leave of absence. Since 2022, allegations of plagiarism against him have been investigated. According to research by the ''

Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung The (; ''FAZ''; "Frankfurt General Newspaper") is a German newspaper founded in 1949. It is published daily in Frankfurt and is considered a newspaper of record for Germany. Its Sunday edition is the ''Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung'' ( ...

'', in his English-language doctoral thesis, with which he received his doctorate from King's College in London in 1992, he took more than 60 pages, a quarter of the dissertation, from the unpublished exam paper "Normativity and History" (1986) by the Protestant theologian and later Freiburg PH professor Dorothee Schlenke, without citing the source. On 14 June 2022, King's College removed the writing from its online library. In January 2023, Homolka ceded ownership of both the Abraham Geiger College, aligned with the Reform movement, and the Zecharis Frankel College, aligned with the Conservative movement. The Abraham Geiger College was acquired by the Jewish Community of Berlin, which announced that Rabbi Homolka would have no role at the restructured institution.

Honours and awards

Grand Decoration of Honour in Silver for Services to the Republic of Austria The Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria () is a state decoration of the Republic of Austria. It is divided into 15 classes and is the highest award in the Austrian national honours system. History The Decoration of Hono ...

(2006) * Muhammad-Nafi-Cheleby Award (2011) * Knight of the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

(France) *

Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art The Austrian Decoration for Science and Art () is a state decoration of the Republic of Austria and forms part of the Austrian national honours system. History The "Austrian Decoration for Science and Art" was established by the National Co ...

(2001) * Gold Decoration of the Province of

Salzburg Salzburg is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020 its population was 156,852. The city lies on the Salzach, Salzach River, near the border with Germany and at the foot of the Austrian Alps, Alps moun ...

* Gold Decoration for Services to the Province of

Lower Austria Lower Austria ( , , abbreviated LA or NÖ) is one of the nine states of Austria, located in the northeastern corner of the country. Major cities are Amstetten, Lower Austria, Amstetten, Krems an der Donau, Wiener Neustadt and Sankt Pölten, which ...

* Silver Medal of the City of Vienna * Knight of the

Order of Merit of the Italian Republic The Order of Merit of the Italian Republic () is the most senior Italian order of merit. It was established in 1951 by the second President of Italy, President of the Italian Republic, Luigi Einaudi. The highest-ranking honour of the Republi ...

* International Honorary Citizen of

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

* Bundeswehr Cross of Honour in Gold * Officer of the German Federal Merit Order * Order of Merit of Berlin * Order of Merit of Brandenburg

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Homolka, Walter 1964 births Living people 20th-century British rabbis 21st-century British rabbis 20th-century German rabbis 21st-century German rabbis Alumni of King's College London Knights of the Legion of Honour Converts to Judaism from Roman Catholicism German Reform rabbis Knights of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic LGBTQ Reform Jews Members of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts Officers Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany People from Dingolfing-Landau Recipients of the Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art Recipients of the Badge of Honour of the Bundeswehr Recipients of the Grand Decoration for Services to the Republic of Austria Recipients of the Order of Merit of Berlin Studienstiftung alumni Academic staff of the University of Potsdam