Charges Dropped Against Berlin Rav Who Performed Milah
The German prosecution announced last week that it has decided to close the investigation against the Rav of the community in Berlin, Harav Yehudah Teichtal, shlita, for performing the mitzvah of bris milah on his son in accordance with halachah.
The investigation was opened following a complaint filed against Rabbi Teichtal about half a year ago by a German activist regarding the bris the Rav had performed on his son in the community’s shul. Two other plaintiffs joined the activist on the case, and added the baby’s grandfather and and a mohel as defendants. The case has now been dropped for lack of evidence.
The case generated a lot of interest in the Torah world, and led to numerous letters being publicized in support of Rabbi Teichtal from many Gedolei Yisrael. In a letter from Harav Shmuel Halevi Wosner and Harav Nissim Karelitz, shlita, they write: “We wanted to strengthen Harav Yehudah Teichtal, Rav of Berlin, for loyally adhering to the holy mitzvah, and the merit of the mitzvah of milah will serve in his stead that he should succeed in whatever he does.”
In recent years, the Jewish community in Germany is fighting for the right to perform bris milah in the country. About a year and a half ago, a German court in Koln ruled that any bris held in the city contravenes the law. The crisis was later eased by a law passed in the Bundestag, the German Parliament, which was supported by Chancellor Merkel.
This article appeared in print on page 1 of edition of Hamodia.
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