Rabbi Dr. Tom Kučera
received his *semicha* (ordination) in 2006 from the Abraham Geiger College in Berlin. The ordination ceremony at the Dresden synagogue was the first of its kind in Germany since the Shoah.
He studied at the egalitarian Pardes Yeshiva in Jerusalem and at the University of Potsdam, where he completed his studies in Jewish Studies. A biochemist by training—holding a doctorate in the field—he hails from Zlín in the Czech Republic. He has served as the community rabbi for Beth Shalom in Munich since October 2006.
In addition to his work within the community, he regularly publishes on medical and scientific topics from a Jewish spiritual perspective, addressing issues such as life, death, and Jewish ethics.
Works puplished by him (selection):
- „Jüdische Spiritualität an den Grenzen des Lebensintervalls“, in: „Spiritualität und Medizin“, hg. v. E. Frick, T. Roser (2011)
- „Halacha, Aggada und Sterbehilfe“, in: „Jüdische Positionen zur Sterbehilfe“, hg. v. Elisa Klapheck (2016)
- „Das Konzept der Seele in der hebräischen Bibel und in der jüdischen Tradition“, in: „Aspekte der Bibel: Themen, Figuren, Motive“, hg. v. Hans-Joachim Simm (2017)
- „Die praktische Spiritualität – Meditation im Judentum“, in: „Die Begleitung Kranker und Sterbender im Judentum“, hg. v. Stephan Probst (2017)
- „Der Umgang mit dem Tragischen – Zufall oder Vorsehung?“, in: „Vom Umgang mit Verlust und Trauer im Judentum“, hg. v. Stephan Probst (2018)
- „Alter und Altern in Judentum, Psychologie und Biochemie“, in: „Das Antlitz der Alten umschönen“, hg. v. Stephan Probst (2019)