The German military is looking for two rabbis for the 300 Jewish soldiers current serving in the country’s armed forces, the Bundeswehr.
The announcement was made on the website of the Central Council of Jews in Germany. The post said that the main roles for the rabbis would be to provide spiritual guidance to soldiers and their families.
There are two open positions, an Orthodox rabbi and a non-Orthodox rabbi. Eventually, eight more rabbis will be hired. The rabbis will work under a military rabbinate to be set up in Berlin.
Other responsibilities include Jewish study classes, leading regular services and organizing kosher meals and group activities.
Job qualifications include holding an appropriate university degree as well as German citizenship.
The new rabbinical posts are part of a plan signed in December by the Central Council of Jews in Germany and the Defence Ministry to give Jewish military personal access to spiritual care. At the signing ceremony, Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer said she was “humble and grateful” that the accord was possible only 75 years after the Holocaust.
Germany has a past history of appointing rabbis to care for soldiers in its military. During WWI, the country had rabbis who worked in the military to serve its large number of Jewish soldiers.