The 2015 Conference of European Rabbis

ערב שבת קודש פר׳ בחקתי תשע״ה

A past Conference of European Rabbis gathering in Berlin, Germany

Arutz 7: European Leaders to Take Part in Major Rabbinical Conference
Conference of European Rabbis to hold massive conference next week, attended by leading rabbis, politicians from Europe and Israel.

Ari Yashar, 5/8/2015

The Conference of European Rabbis (CER) has finalized preparations for its 29th conference to be held next Tuesday in Toulouse, France, timed to mark 70 years since the Nazi Third Reich surrendered in France.

Attending the conference will be around 200 of the leading rabbis and dayanim (rabbinical judges) in Europe, led by the Head of the European Beit Din (EBD), Rabbi Chanoch Hacohen Ehrentreu, as well as Jewish organization heads from 32 countries.

EBD President Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt said topics to be discussed at the event include fighting assimilation, Judaism among the younger generation, Jewish education and ensuring the safety and future of the Jewish people.

The conference is to last three days, with various discussions and lectures lasting until next Thursday.

It will start with Rabbi Goldshmidt and CER Vice-President Rabbi Haim Korsia, who is the chief rabbi of France, presenting French Prime Minister Manuel Valls with the Lord Jakobovits Prize for his warm relations with the Jewish community in his country - which is the largest Jewish community in Europe.

Another CER Vice-President, Rabbi Ya'akov Dov Bleich, who is the chief rabbi of Ukraine, will lead an event on preserving Jewish identity and fighting anti-Semitism on the first day of the conference.

It will be attended by Antonio Tajani, one of the vice-presidents of the European Parliament, as well as numerous EU dignitaries and politicians, and ambassadors of European nations.

Also speaking at the event will be Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein (Likud).

In an event Wednesday honoring the Jewish soldiers who fought in World War Two, Ashkenazic Chief Rabbi of Israel Rabbi David Lau is to deliver an address.

Esser Agaroth (2¢):
This conference took place yesterday.

Did the Conference of European Rabbis tell Jews in Europe that fleeing from France to England doesn't make one damn bit of difference, because if Britain is not as dangerous as France is now, then it will be soon? So much for the French Prime Minister's "warm relations with the Jewish community in his country." A lot of good that has done them!

But, I digress...

Did the Conference of European Rabbis tell Jews in Europe that Israel is their only true homeland, and that Europe is only a temporary dwelling place for them, just like Egypt was supposed to be?

I tend to doubt it. But, if I am wrong, then by all means leave a comment, correcting my belief. If anything, this certainly does not appear to be the Conference of European Rabbis policy.

I can only hope that Ashkenazy Chief Rabbi of Israel Rabbi David Lau, whose father Former Chief Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau survived the Holocaust, will delivery these messages, and that Prime Minister Netanyahu will repeat his previous call for Jews to make aliyah.

The fifth Global Forum for Combating Anti-Semitism [GFCA] opened in Israel the day before the Conference of European Rabbis.

The state of anti-Semitism has never been as serious as on the eve of this forum. Seventy years since the darkest chapter in the history of Europe, anti-Semitism is reaching levels which have yet to be seen, and there is barely a single area in Europe which is free of hatred towards Jews. There are thousands of cases of anti-Jewish violence, anti-Semitic incitement and Holocaust denial.

Yitzhak Eldan, YNET Op-Ed, May 13, 2015

But, have any of these European rabbis learned their lessons?