What did Rabbi of Berlin say to Yair Lapid?
Following the words of Lapid that he would not want his son to marry a non-Jew, he received much praise from Rabbi of the Jewish community in Berlin
- Yehuda Halevi Photo: Jewish community in Berlin
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הקהילה היהודית בברלין
"Your words against assimilation strengthened the young Jews in Germany, and strengthen our struggle for maintaining the continuity of the Jewish people in the Diaspora," said Rabbi Yehuda Teichtel, Rabbi of Jewish community in Berlin, to finance minister Yair Lapid during his visit to Germany, after expressing his stand against assimilation in an interview in "Galei Israel."
In a personal conversation that took place between the two, Teichtel thanked Lapid for "important words. The words that have a strong meaning here in Europe, the overall effort that the people of Israel will remain together and not assimilate. The strength of the people of Israel for whose security you act in your role in the cabinet, is dealing with two threats: external threat which is anti-Semitism and hatred of Israel, and the internal threat, and the danger of assimilation."
As recalled, last week Lapid said in an interview on Galei Israel station, that if his son would come to him and say that he wants to marry a non-Jew, it would be very disturbing to him. He said, "I think that the Jewish people is small, I think we have a legacy, I think we should keep it, and that bothers me."
Teichtel turned to Lapid after he gave a speech at a ceremony held in memory of the victims of the Holocaust in Berlin last Wednesday on platform 17, from which 50,000 Jews were sent to their deaths and at which Rabbi Teichtel was one of two community rabbis who held a public prayer at the event. Previously the former prime ministers Ariel Sharon and Ehud Olmert and former President Shimon Peres visited the place. The ceremony was attended by the Minister of Finance along with Israel's ambassador to Germany, Yaakov Hadas-Handelsman, and the Berlin Jewish community leaders. Lapid himself gave a 15-minute speech, in which he told the story of the imprisonment of his grandparents during the Holocaust. He concluded his speech with the call "We can not rely on anyone but ourselves."
Rabbi Teichtel adds that "With all the disagreement we have with Lapid on a number of issues, we believe it is important that a secular Minister publicly condemns assimilation. In Germany as in Europe as a whole, the assimilation data stands at over fifty percent. However, in recent years, there is more awareness among young Jews connected to their identity, and we in the community are working towards that. Today there are more and more meetings between youth and young adults, and these help to prevent assimilation. But we must not be complacent, and every assimilated Jew - is one too many."
In a personal conversation that took place between the two, Teichtel thanked Lapid for "important words. The words that have a strong meaning here in Europe, the overall effort that the people of Israel will remain together and not assimilate. The strength of the people of Israel for whose security you act in your role in the cabinet, is dealing with two threats: external threat which is anti-Semitism and hatred of Israel, and the internal threat, and the danger of assimilation."
As recalled, last week Lapid said in an interview on Galei Israel station, that if his son would come to him and say that he wants to marry a non-Jew, it would be very disturbing to him. He said, "I think that the Jewish people is small, I think we have a legacy, I think we should keep it, and that bothers me."
Teichtel turned to Lapid after he gave a speech at a ceremony held in memory of the victims of the Holocaust in Berlin last Wednesday on platform 17, from which 50,000 Jews were sent to their deaths and at which Rabbi Teichtel was one of two community rabbis who held a public prayer at the event. Previously the former prime ministers Ariel Sharon and Ehud Olmert and former President Shimon Peres visited the place. The ceremony was attended by the Minister of Finance along with Israel's ambassador to Germany, Yaakov Hadas-Handelsman, and the Berlin Jewish community leaders. Lapid himself gave a 15-minute speech, in which he told the story of the imprisonment of his grandparents during the Holocaust. He concluded his speech with the call "We can not rely on anyone but ourselves."
Rabbi Teichtel adds that "With all the disagreement we have with Lapid on a number of issues, we believe it is important that a secular Minister publicly condemns assimilation. In Germany as in Europe as a whole, the assimilation data stands at over fifty percent. However, in recent years, there is more awareness among young Jews connected to their identity, and we in the community are working towards that. Today there are more and more meetings between youth and young adults, and these help to prevent assimilation. But we must not be complacent, and every assimilated Jew - is one too many."
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