Orthodox rabbi at the Institute for Catholic Theology

Rabbi Daniel Fabian and Dr. Felix Körner, Photo: private
Rabbi Daniel Fabian and Dr. Felix Körner, Photo: private
Rabbi Daniel Fabian has been a research associate at the Nikolaus Cusanus Chair for Theology of Religions since September 1.

Rabbi Daniel Fabian started work as a research associate at the Nikolaus Cusanus Chair for Theology of Religions at the Central Institute for Catholic Theology (IKT) of Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (HU) on September 1, 2022.

Daniel Fabian was born in Israel in 1974 and grew up in the Lower Rhine region. He received his Jewish religious education at the Orthodox "Rabbinical Seminary of Berlin". Before that he studied biology at the HU. Since 2005 he has taught religion in Frankfurt/M. and Berlin. Now Rabbi Fabian is doing his doctorate at the Law Faculty of the Humboldt University on the topic of "Shechita (slaughtering) from a Jewish legal perspective".

Orthodox Jew at the IKT?

Dr. Felix Körner, head of the Nikolaus Cusanus Chair, explains how the appointment of a rabbi at a Catholic institute came about:
"In response to our call for applications, an Orthodox rabbi came forward. I was thrilled. This will change our daily study routine. We already work together in lively Catholic-Protestant contact and especially with our sister institute for Islamic theology. Only the Jewish theological voice was still missing at HU. Now all religions that refer to Abraham have their voice with us. Society does not need new isolations now, but interactions, also in theology."

Rabbi Fabian, who lives in Berlin with his wife and five children, has a clear perspective: "Thinking has been part of Jewish life for millennia. Religious reasoning wants to engage in debate. Humboldt University, with its theological start-ups, is the right place for that."
Fabian’s first course deals with a Jewish thinker of the 12th century: "Non-Jewish religious experts can also learn from the sharpness of thought of Moses Maimonides," the rabbi is pleased to say.