A "Toxic Environment" and Allegations of Sexual Misconduct
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Loading... - Pipsa Autio
- 20 May 2022
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"The whole thing is a catastrophe for Reform Judaism," says the student – we’ll call him Aaron Eckert for this story – as he hands over a USB stick. The storage device is full of images of naked or mostly naked men. There are pictures of penises, accompanied by salacious messages, such as this one from 2016: "Here, a little bedtime snack. I’m already rather drunk."
The sender of the message is Hartmut Bomhoff. At the time, he was a lecturer at the School of Jewish Theology at the University of Potsdam and press spokesman for the Abraham Geiger College, Germany’s training center for liberal rabbis. Bomhoff is also the life-partner of Walter Homolka, who, as director and CEO of the college, is one of the central figures of Judaism in Germany.
At least he was until earlier this month, when Homolka announced he was stepping away from his official duties following a story in the German daily Die Welt, which highlighted a number of accusations against him and his partner. Since then, the Jewish community in Germany has been in turmoil, with some emphasizing that the accusations must first be investigated before conclusions can be drawn, while others are demanding Homolka's immediate resignation. Read More...
