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?

European Rabbis: A Liability to the Jewish People?

כ"ט לחודש האחד עשר תשע"ה

PM Netanyahu

Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's (Likud) call for mass aliyah (immigration to Israel) of Europe's Jews has been the target of criticism. Political pandering? Propping himself up as the "Mr. Security" candidate? Securing Likud voters for future, if not the current elections? After all, the Left has been accused of doing the same, by recruiting non-Jews in the Former Soviet Union for aliyah, as well as encouraging special status, if not citizen arrangements for foreign workers.

Here is another example of criticism toward the Prime Minister.

YNET: Denmark's chief rabbi 'disappointed' by Netanyahu statement
Associated Press, 02.15.15

Jair Melchior, Denmark's chief rabbi, said he was "disappointed" by Netanyahu's call for immigration following the attack.

"Terror is not a reason to move to Israel," he said.

Esser Agaroth (2¢):
Although not specifically written as a response to the Danish Chief Rabbi's odd remark, the following comic does fit part of the bill.

Asher Schwartz, The Jewish Press, February 16, 2015

But, how can the Danish Chief Rabbi's "Terror is not a reason to move to Israel," comment be responded to in full? After all, aren't there terror attacks in Israel, just like there are in Denmark, France, England, Belgium, and elsewhere?

And, he is not the only European rabbi who seems to think so.

YNET: European rabbis: We are fighting a battle in our homeland
Following deadly Copenhagen attack, Jewish community leaders warn that Europe's Jews are subject to anti-Semitic persecution and anti-religious legislation, threatening their future in the continent.

Kobi Nachshoni, 02.16.15

The day after the deadly terror attack at a synagogue in Copenhagen, European rabbis described the atmosphere in the continent's Jewish communities as a "battle on terror in our homeland."

European countries' chief rabbis, city rabbis and community leaders warned Sunday that Europe's Jews were subject to anti-Semitic persecution and anti-religious legislation, which prevented them from living a safe Jewish life in the continent.

They once again demanded the continent's leaders increase security around all Jewish institutions. meanwhile, they said they were not taking any risks and were preparing to defend themselves.

Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt, president of the Conference of European Rabbis, condemned the "horrific terror attack," which he said "is both sickening and a sign of the worsening extremism spreading across Europe."

Criticizing European leaders, Rabbi Goldschmidt said that "the Jewish community in Denmark is a microcosm of what is happening to Jewish communities across the continent. On the one hand they are under attack from extremist Muslims who see every Jew as a legitimate target, on the other hand, freedom of religion is curtailed by the government, religious slaughter has been forbidden and the parliament is in discussions about the future of religious circumcision.

"I truly hope that this latest attack will lead the people of Denmark to rally behind the Jewish community just as they did in 1943, securing the future of the community," he concluded. (cont.)

Our Homeland??!!

This is absolutely disgraceful! There is no excuse for such a comment!

Denmark is not "our homeland." Neither is anyplace else within Europe.

And Rabbi Goldschmidt and rabbis like him pray for the return to Eretz Yisra'el, and the rebuilding of the Holy City of Jerusalem, three times daily??!!

Even though he is correct when he states that "...they are under attack from extremist Muslims who see every Jew as a legitimate target, on the other hand, freedom of religion is curtailed by the government, religious slaughter has been forbidden and the parliament is in discussions about the future of religious circumcision."

And so, his solution is this??

"I truly hope that this latest attack will lead the people of Denmark to rally behind the Jewish community just as they did in 1943, securing the future of the community?"

Rabbi Goldschmidt needs to review his European Jewish history. Otherwise, he is destined to repeat it, and lead European Jews to do the same.

Danes put their Jewish neighbors on boats, and scurried them across the to supposed safety in "neutral" Sweden. But, many of them made it into Nazi hands anyway. Of course, this is all moot, because the ISS, the Islamic State of Sweden is hardly an option.

But, I digress...

Here is the result of the influence of "rabbis" such as Melchior and Goldschmidt. I hope that they are not motivated by concerns over holding onto their prestigious positions. In other words, no Jews left in Europe, no need for European rabbis. I would at least hope they were not as shallow at that, and simply suffered from a self-destructive hasqafah (perspective).

YNET: Denmark's Jews vow to stay as reports name Copenhagen killer as PalestinianDanish Jews, who have historically enjoyed very good relations with fellow countrymen, reject Netanyahu's call for immigration; report says suspected Copenhagen gunman ‘had history of offences', said to be of Palestinian origin. 

News Agencies,  02.15.15 

The man suspected of killing two people in shootings in Copenhagen was identified in several Danish media outlets on Sunday as Omar El-Hussein. Reports in Lebanon said he was the child of Palestinian immigrants from Ain al-Hilweh, a refugee camp in Lebanon... 

...Denmark's small but vibrant Jewish community rebuffed Israel's call to emigrate on Sunday after an attack on Copenhagen's main synagogue that shook the sense of security Scandinavian tolerance had long provided... 

...As in the French case, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Denmark's 2,500 Jews they would be welcome in his country. "Israel is your home," he said in Jerusalem.

"We appreciate the invitation, but we are Danish citizens, this is our country," Dan Rosenberg Asmussen, chairman of the Jewish Society in Denmark, told Reuters as he offered condolences to mourners at the synagogue. (cont.)

Not much I can say about my brothers and sisters in Denmark, except that they are doomed, and that this saddens me.

Jews are supposed to live in Israel, if at all possible, not in Denmark, nor anywhere else in Europe.

In the 1930's and '40's, Rabbi Yissachar Shlomo Teichtel hy"d warned Jews of the dangers of the Nazis, and encouraged them to abandon Europe for a new life in Israel. In his quintessential work Em HaBanim Smeicha, this once anti-Zionist brought countless sources to support that it was not only permissible to immigrate to Israel, but that it was preferable to any other destination.

And, now that gates to Eretz Yisra'el have been opened, and have remained open, ,

Now that the gates to Eretz Yisra'el have been reopened since 1948/תש"ח. Even after countless challenges to our claim to our Homeland, and even to our lives, such as during the Six-Day War and the Yom Kippur War, its gates have remained open.

There is no excuse for any knowledgeable Jew not [to put forth his best efforts] to live in our true Homeland of Eretz Yisra'el.

Any comic written to follow the one posted above, should say that God gave us instructions as to what to do to defend ourselves while residing in Eretz Yisra'el, but we have not been following them in full. The Israeli Government has favored Western approaches in dealing with our security issues, rather than Torah approach. Instead, we have heeded the concerned of the "international community," not wanting to offend them. Even though our mere existence offends them anyway.

We, the Jewish People, have been suffering the consequences of its actions. Fortunately, Rabbi Teichtal teaches that the power of such individuals, the "non-kosher birds," as he calls them, over Eretz Yisra'el will be temporary,

Nevertheless, this is the difference between the physical dangers of living in galuth and those found while living in Israel.

Eretz Yisra'el is where we are supposed to invest our time, money, blood, sweat, and tears, even our lives, not in Denmark, nor anywhere else in Europe or the rest of the world.

Rabbis Menachem Margolin and Avraham Cooper are Both Wrong!

כ״ה לחודש העשירי תשע״ה

Free Beacon: Europe’s Leading Rabbi: Jews Must Begin Carrying Guns
Top Jewish org petitions EU to permit Jews to carry guns

Adam Kredo, January 15, 2015

One of Europe’s most prominent Jewish organizations is petitioning the European Union to pass new legislation that would permit Jewish community members to carry guns “for the essential protection of their communities,” according to a letter obtained by the Washington Free Beacon.

The European Jewish Association (EJA), which represents Jewish communities across Europe, says that gun license laws must be altered following a string of deadly attacks on Jews in France and other European countries, where anti-Semitism has been growing at an alarming rate.

The recent attacks, including one on a Kosher market that killed four, “have revealed the urgent need to stop talking and start acting” in a way that empowers Europe’s Jews, according to a letter sent Tuesday by EJA General Director Rabbi Menachem Margolin to EU leaders. (cont.)

Rabbi Margolin goes on to elaborate on just how bad it is getting for the Jews in Europe, and uses this to support his position that Jews must allowed to arms themselves. Meanwhile...

Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, said that while guns could help Jews defend themselves against an individual attack, only authorities can protect them against a mass attack like those carried out in France.

“As to personally being armed, such a move could help when a Jewish person is threatened by thugs, but won’t help if G-d forbid, Charlie-type terror attacks are launched,” Cooper said.

“Bottom line: Only the Police and intelligence can protect France’s Jews from terrorism,” Cooper said, noting that it is expected French authorities will continue boosting defenses. “If the government doesn’t, then there is no long range future for Jews there.”

“In the meantime, additional steps by the community to train and defend Jews from hate attacks are appropriate, necessary, and prudent,” Cooper said. “I pray that all these steps will help.

Esser Agaroth (2¢):
Seriously, Rabbi Cooper? Depend on the authorities of the lands of our exile to defend us? Not only did it not work last week, but it has never worked.

There is no long range future for the Jews in Europe, because there isn't supposed to be any! The lands of Jewish exile are temporary dwelling places only, nothing we need to invest in with our time, money, nor enery, let alone our lives.

Rabbi Margolin needs to be reminded that arming the Jews in the lands of our exile is also not the solution to saving the may have work in the time of Mordechai and Queen Esther c. 2,400 years ago, but they did not have much of a choice. Whereas, the Jews of today do.

Rabbi Yisachar Shlomo
Teichtel hy"d

I would like to remind Rabbi Margolin of another European rabbi, Rabbi Yisachar Shlomo Teichtel hy"d, author of the book Em HaBanim Smeicha. From the lack of Zionist enthusiasm, Hungarian community of Rabbi Teichtel, not only saw and read the writing on the wall of pre-World War II Europe, but spread it around, and encouraged what he knew to be the only possible solution: Aliyah (immigration to Israel)

Certain rabbis may not want to leave their comfortable lives in the Europe or in the U. S., either desiring to arm themselves or to continue to depend on their non-Jewish neighbors for help. That is their choice. But they should be ashamed that their words are keeps their fellow Jews imprisoned in the golah (exile) with them.

The only solution is aliyah, return to our only true, homeland, Erertz Yisra'el.

Rabbi Meir Kahane h"yd

There are some who have been invoking a favorite quote from Rabbi Meir Kahane hy"d...

"For every Jew a 22!"

...22 calibers that is.

But, apparently, these same individuals have selective memories. Do I really have say it?

OK, I will. Rabbi Kahane moved to Israel.

'Nuff said.

Council Of Europe: Male Ritual Circumcision - "violation of the physical integrity of children"

ז' לחודש השמיני תשע"ד

My comments are interspersed within this article in blue italics, with a conclusion following it.

YNET: Europe Council Votes Against Circumcision
Parliamentary Assembly of Pan-European intergovernmental organization passes resolution calling male circumcision, female genital mutilation 'a violation of the physical integrity of children.' Jewish leader: War against circumcision, ritual slaughter conceals new anti-Semitism

Kobi Nachshoni, October 3, 2013

Are Europe's Jews about to launch a new struggle for the observance of the circumcision ritual across the continent? The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, which represents most of the continent's states, has passed a resolution calling male ritual circumcision a "violation of the physical integrity of children according to human rights standards."

This is code for "In Europe, human rights and Torah are not believed to be compatible."

At the end of a debate in Strasbourg, the Parliamentary Assembly ruled overwhelmingly that male circumcision and female genital mutilation are forbidden, unless the child is over the age of 15 and has given his or her consent to the practice.

The council passed the resolution based on a report by the Committee on Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development, by a vote of 78 in favor and 13 against, with 15 abstentions.

It calls on the council's member states to "clearly define the medical, sanitary and other conditions to be ensured for practices such as the non-medically justified circumcision of young boys," the JTA reported Wednesday.

Gee. I wonder why the Muslims do not riot over this. Well, their forefather Yishma'el was circumcised at the age of 13 (Gen. 17:23-26). So, I suppose that 15 is close enough. That still does not explain how they are just going to let any laws against "ritual slaughter" slide by. I suppose that the riots will not start until reality sets in for them,...when individual countries make it so.

Fear of wave of legislation
The council further called on states to "initiate a public debate, including intercultural and interreligious dialogue, aimed at reaching a large consensus on the rights of children to protection against violations of their physical integrity according to human rights standards" and to "adopt specific legal provisions to ensure that certain operations and practices will not be carried out before a child is old enough to be consulted."

This is just code for "You are not allowed to follow the Torah."

According to the JTA, large majorities rejected five amendments that sought to remove or alter references to the circumcision of boys. For example, many of the members supported an amendment that removed a reference to the "religious rights of parents and families."

The Council of Europe is a pan-European intergovernmental organization whose resolutions have no legal force and do not bind its member states, but European organizations fear that this declarative move will be perceived as a professional recommendation by the most important body in the continent on democracy and human rights issues, which may lead to a wave of legislation banning circumcision across Europe.

See? Democracy is NOT the Jews' friend! Human rights? Human rights, but not Jewish rights.

The Jewish groups are mainly protesting the failure to distinguish between male circumcision, which is seen as legitimate not just among Jews, and female genital mutilation, which is considered in nearly every culture as a violation of a woman's body and dignity and is strongly opposed by human rights organizations.

A reasonable premise, but these "Jewish groups" are in big time denial that Jew-haters are not reasonable.

'Violation of freedom of religion'
Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt, president of the Conference of European Rabbis, told Ynet that in the short time since the resolution was passed, he and his associates had managed to appeal to many of the council members on the issue, and that these members plan to demand a new debate which will consider allowing male circumcision.

"The war against circumcision and ritual slaughter conceals the new anti-Semitism, which is a violation of the freedom of religion all EU countries have signed," said Rabbi Goldschmidt. "Although this is not a binding resolution, it encourages the dark forces which seek to see Europe clean of Jews."

The struggle for the right to practice circumcision has been held in several countries, and in the past year Jewish and Muslim organization scored a significant victory in Germany, where circumcision was permitted after five months of uncertainty since a court in Cologne defined the ritual as "a serious and irreversible interference in the integrity of the human body."

The German parliament passed a law protecting the right to circumcise infant boys and granting parents the right to circumcise their sons using a certified circumciser. Meanwhile, in Scandinavian countries there have been increased calls to ban the ritual.

(Tip Credit: The Torah Revolution)

Esser Agaroth (2¢):
Well, well, well...

Is anyone surprised? If so, then you've got sand in your ears. You know, from having your head buried in the sand all this time!

With all due respect to Rabbi Goldschmidt, who is doing the galuth (exile) rabbi's job of protecting Jews and Judaism in galuth,...could this act of the EU be just more writing on the wall that European (and North American) Jews simply refuse to see?

New anti-Semitism? This is most certainly not the first time that the practices of brith milah (Jewish circumcision) and shehitah (kosher slaughter) have been fought through legislation. Did no one learn about the Roman Empire in school???

And so, the New and definitely UN-holy, Roman Empire/Edom (B'reishith Rabba) strikes again in its war on The Almighty's Will and His Holy Torah!

Just as Esau reveals his many different faces in the Torah, when going up against his Ya'aqov, so his descendants, whether European "progressive" elite or the Christian Crusaders of today or 1,000 years ago, have always worked toward the same goal,...his (Israel's) destruction.

And, of course,...Esau was never circumcised; he never had a brith milah (ie. not a part of the "covenant")

I cannot emphasis enough, that this is not about giving up the fight for the freedom to be Jewish, and have that protected in galuth (exile). This is about reading the writing on the wall, and moving back to only place where ones Jewish identity can be expressed to its fullest extent.

In this week's parasha Lech-L'cha, Avraham Avinu, then still Avram, was commanded by The Almighty to get up and move out his native land, away from all that he knew, and travel to a Land foreign to him (...to the land that I will show you. - Gen. 12:1), where he and his descendants were to settle.

Rabb Yehudah HaLevy, the author of Sefer HaKuzari teaches that as high a level which Avraham Avinu was on, the only place where he could reach perfection was Eretz Yisrael (The Land of Israel).*

That perfection, of course, also included brith milah, now on its way to be legislated out of the European Union. The two go together, brith milah and Eretz Ysira'el, along with a third, the Torah, and its various other "signs," such as Shabbath observance.

How long will Jews wait, before they finally realize that Eretz Yisra'el is the ONLY Land for them?

How long will it take for Jews to wake up and realize that they are not truly a part of their nations of temporary residence in galuth?

How long will it take for Jews to remember that galuth?is the punishment? The punishment is NOT having to pack up, leave many of your belongings behind, and travel to a Land foreign to you (...to the land that I will show you. - ibid.), where you and your descendants are to settle.

wait, before they finally realize that Eretz Yisra'el is the ONLY Land for them?

********

*as cited in Eretz Yisrael in the Parashah (2006) by Rabbi Moshe Lichtman