European rabbis: "Marking Products - hatred of Israel"

"The EU decision to mark products imported from the settlements and the Golan Heights in Israel is miserable and characterized by hatred of Israel. We dealt with the wishes of the 'new anti-Semites' in Europe who sought two years ago to mark meat slaughtered halachically and we were able to repel this initiative of the European Parliament and EU institutions. I said to them: want to mark, go ahead. You should also mark meat and animal products which were gassed or otherwise. Today, we say again: you wish to mark, go ahead. Mark the products manufactured by ISIS in Syria and Assad's Syria. In Iraq and so on. These initiatives are the new anti-Semitism in Europe - said the president of the Conference of European Rabbis, Hagaon Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt, at a meeting of the Standing Committee of the Conference of European Rabbis convening for the second day in Athens, Greece. The meeting included the representative from the European Commission for Religious Affairs, Mrs. Cathrene Won - Schnorbein.

Minister of Education and Religious Affairs of Greece, Nikos Phyllis, with whom the delegation rabbis of the committee met, said that the government of Greece condemns the phenomenon of the fascist anti-Semitic statements online in media whereby Jews are 'guilty' of the financial collapse of Greece. "We are working to eradicate this shameful phenomenon which has nothing except fascism for its own sake". Phyllis added that the equating of the rights of religious institutions in Greece to institutions of other religions, are now joined by a new law equating the rights of teachers employed in educational institutions of Jewish religious institutions in general. "Now I am promoting a bill of law against Holocaust deniers."

Yesterday's Standing Committee continued discussions and rabbis dealt with a wide range of issues of concern to European Jewry and made decisions. Among the issues discussed were: the call of the leading Ashkenazi rabbis to add to their ranks rabbis who are willing to serve various communities desperately in need of rabbis; the storm over the rabbinate of Krakow; the risk of desecration of the cemetery and the Chief rabbinate in Vilna; and actions to implement 'Day of liberation and rescue of European Jewry' on the Hebrew date, initiated by the Jewish benefactor, Mr. Gabriel German Zachrayeb, who gains widespread support in the Jewish world. Deputy Chief Rabbi of Moscow, Rabbi Shimon Levin, gave an extensive coverage to the activities on the project to study 6.250.000 Mishnayos until the 26th Iyar and on promoting the amendment in legislation in the Knesset on the Hebrew calendar.

The Rabbis received a briefing on the 'Open Orthodoxy' movement which is stirring the world Jewry. At the end of discussion, the Committee published a declaration stating that: "The Conference of European Rabbis unites in its ranks rabbis ordained according to Halacha, and lead their communities according to the tradition of generations as it was delivered at Sinai and as transmitted to us by Gedolei Yisroel ztk"l and shlita".

"Since its founding, the conference will accept to its ranks only rabbis who meet the principles of Judaism and halachah mentioned here and will not accept any new initiatives that are not in the spirit of Jewish law and tradition, the spirit of Israel Saba.

"The conference sees with regret the deviations from religious foundations coming from the direction of the movement called "Open Orthodoxy" and hereby declares that those who act in this spirit, graduates of this movement, from the institution known as 'Chovevei Torah' and the like, would not be recognized by us as rabbis with all that this implies."

After reviewing the High Court ruling regarding the demolition of the synagogue in Givat Ze'ev, the Commission published a notice calling on the Israeli government to find a legal solution: "In great pain shooting through the hearts of the masses of Jews in Eretz Yisrael and the Diaspora regarding the court ruling to demolish a synagogue in Givat Ze'ev in the holy city we hereby call in the strongest terms on the Israeli government to do all it can to find a legal solution to avoid the demolition of a synagogue in Jerusalem, which evokes harsh associations for each and every Jew."

In the morning the rabbis visited the Jewish school 'Lauder' in Athens and met with students for a time of dialogue and singing. The rabbis expressed their enthusiasm in view of the great work being done in the field of Jewish education in the school which numbers several hundred students.

'בחדרי' גם ברשתות החברתיות - הצטרפו!