A Bradford-born Rabbi who sparked controversy when he produced a condom during a sermon was due to mount a legal challenge today after he was sacked from his prestigious job in Berlin's burgeoning Jewish community.

Walter Rothschild, who celebrated his 46th birthday yesterday, was given his marching orders as the new progressive Rabbi from the community's board of representatives earlier this month.

No reason was given in his dismissal letter which ran to just three lines.

But many of the 11,000 members of Berlin's Jewish community, the Judische Gemeinde, believe it to be the result of a personality clash between the straight-talking Briton and the conservative establishment.

One incident which unsettled the more straight-laced members was a sermon which involved a condom being pulled out of a hat, during a service which Rabbi Rothschild led back in September 1998 just after his three-year appointment.

A monthly meeting of the 21 members of the community's board, the Representanz, will discuss the sacking tomorrow.

No-one at Judische Gemeinde was available for comment today.

But speaking exclusively to the Telegraph & Argus from his home in Berlin, where he lives with his wife Jacqueline and their three young children, Rabbi Rothschild said he believed the sacking reflected internal wrangles within the community and he and his lawyer will contend that it is illegal.

He said: "What you need in my job, wherever you are doing it, is a clear conscience, a strong nerve, belief in God and a good lawyer - not necessarily in that order.

"As I have got all four plus the support of a substantial population of the membership, I have no enormous panic."

He added: "As I understand it according to German Labour law if you wish to dismiss somebody you have to give the reasons in writing, which have also taken place two weeks prior to the dismissal.

"The letter I received had no reasons or dates and is therefore technically invalid. I am meeting my lawyer today to confirm this.

"This argument has got nothing to do with my professionalism or my skill or about my care for the weak and the sick at work.

"No-one is saying that I believe in the wrong thing. It's a purely personal argument to do with very internal power struggles."

Rabbi Rothschild, a former Bradford Grammar School pupil who lived in Bradford until he was 18, said three of the five synagogues in Berlin that he was in charge of wanted him to stay.

The fourth was split down the middle and the fifth did not have a committee of representatives.

Referring to the sermon involving the condom, he said: "I had a list of things people should not be thinking about including food, drink, medication, money, politics and sex.

"I showed them a sandwich, a packet of pills, a banknote and the condom to illustrate this - what you hear you forget, what you see you remember.

"Then I said 'forget all of these things, here's the prayer book, you should be thinking about this instead'. This was back in October 1998. If people are looking for an argument then they'll find something 23 years ago, as long as it proves their point."

His contract does not run out until July 2001 and Rabbi Rothschild said the incident, which was more "sabre-rattling" than serious, had made him more determined to stay because of the scores of letters of support he had received.

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