BERLIN (JTA) — The first two graduates of a new Orthodox seminary in Berlin were ordained as rabbis in a ceremony broadcast live on German television.
Zsolt Balla, 30, and Avraham Radbill, 25, in historic ceremonies Tuesday at Munich’s new synagogue, received their official papers from Rabbis Chanoch Ehrentreu and Yoel Smith, the supervisor and rosh beit midrash, respectively, of the Rabbinerseminar zu Berlin.
Balla, who sometimes performs with a Jewish music group called Holy Smokes, sang a hymn of praise following the ordination.
The Central Council of Jews in Germany and the Ronald S. Lauder Foundation, which together founded the institute, hosted the ceremony in the Ohel Jacob Synagogue of the Jewish Community of Munich.
The rabbinical program grew out of the Yeshivas Beis Zion in Berlin, an independent institution under the umbrella of Lauder Yeshurun educational programs in Germany.
