Tag Archives: rabbi

‘Like Moses’: Hundreds of thousands attend funeral for Rabbi Gershon Edelstein – The Times of Israel

  1. ‘Like Moses’: Hundreds of thousands attend funeral for Rabbi Gershon Edelstein The Times of Israel
  2. Gershon Edelstein, leading Haredi Ashkenazi rabbi, co-existence advocate, dies at 100 The Times of Israel
  3. Rabbi Gershon Edelstein, an architect and guardian of Haredi-secular relations The Times of Israel
  4. Followers of Rabbi Gershon Edelstein honor late Haredi leader’s pragmatic devoutness The Times of Israel
  5. At least one arrested for disturbances at Edelstein funeral in Bnei Brak The Times of Israel
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Israel’s Sephardic chief rabbi calls for judicial reform dialogue to avoid civil war – The Times of Israel

  1. Israel’s Sephardic chief rabbi calls for judicial reform dialogue to avoid civil war The Times of Israel
  2. Israel protests over judicial reforms, demonstrators scuffle with security forces |World News | WION WION
  3. Israel protests intensify over judicial system overhaul | WUSF Public Media WUSF Public Media
  4. ‘Destroying Zionism’: Masses protest overhaul; rise in violence against demonstrators The Times of Israel
  5. Thousands Protest Against Netanyahu’s Reform Plan In Israel | Israel News | #shorts | #israel CNN-News18
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Moscow’s chief rabbi ‘in exile’ after resisting Kremlin pressure over war | Russia

Moscow’s chief rabbi, Pinchas Goldschmidt, is “in exile” after resisting Kremlin pressure to support the war in Ukraine, his daughter-in-law has said.

Goldschmidt, who also heads the Conference of European Rabbis, left Russia just weeks after it launched its invasion of Ukraine, saying he had to take care of his ailing father in Jerusalem.

But this week his daughter-in-law revealed that Goldschmidt and his wife had also been put under official pressure to support the war and now considered themselves to be in exile because of their opposition to what Russia has called its “special military operation”.

“Can finally share that my in-laws, Moscow chief rabbi [Pinchas Goldschmidt] & Rebbetzin Dara Goldschmidt, have been put under pressure by authorities to publicly support the ‘special operation’ in Ukraine – and refused,” Avital Chizhik-Goldschmidt, a journalist who is married to Goldschmidt’s son, Benjamin, wrote on Twitter on Tuesday evening.

Can finally share that my in-laws, Moscow Chief Rabbi @PinchasRabbi & Rebbetzin Dara Goldschmidt, have been put under pressure by authorities to publicly support the 'special operation' in Ukraine — and refused. pic.twitter.com/Gy7zgI3YkJ

— Avital Chizhik-Goldschmidt (@avitalrachel) June 7, 2022

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Can finally share that my in-laws, Moscow Chief Rabbi @PinchasRabbi & Rebbetzin Dara Goldschmidt, have been put under pressure by authorities to publicly support the ‘special operation’ in Ukraine — and refused. pic.twitter.com/Gy7zgI3YkJ

— Avital Chizhik-Goldschmidt (@avitalrachel) June 7, 2022

Goldschmidt has been Moscow’s chief rabbi since 1993 and is one of the most influential Jewish leaders in Russia. If the account is confirmed, Goldschmidt would be a rare high-profile religious leader to leave Russia due to opposition to the war. The Orthodox bishop, Patriarch Kirill, and other religious leaders in Russia have voiced support of the war.

The Guardian has written to Goldschmidt and Chizhik-Goldschmidt for comment.

“They are now in exile from the community they loved, built and raised their children in over 33 years,” Chizhik-Goldschmidt wrote, describing a journey that took her parents-in-law through Hungary and then eastern Europe, where she said they had helped fundraising efforts for Ukrainian refugees.

He went on to Jerusalem, where his father had been in hospital.

“The pain & fear in our family the last few months is beyond words,” she said. “The sounds of the Moscow Choral Synagogue ring in our ears … I’ll never forget our engagement there in ‘14, & taking our children there, Shavuos ‘18… Grateful our parents are safe; worried sick over many others …”

Demographers estimate there are about 150,000 Jewish people in Russia.

Goldschmidt was reelected on Tuesday to another seven-year term as the chief rabbi of Moscow and the leader of the Moscow Choral Synagogue, one of Russia’s most storied houses of worship. He had remained in his post while outside the country, delegating authority to a deputy in his absence.

His reelection was supported by a number of senior Israeli rabbis, who had asked that “no change be made in the composition of the rabbinate and the tribunal without coordination with us”. Another conservative religious leader in Israel warned that “we have been witnessing a difficult reality when governments try to interfere in the tenure of rabbis”.

There were also reports of government pressure to replace Goldschmidt in the elections. “The coup attempt failed,” a source in the Russian Jewish community told the Jerusalem Post.

Goldschmidt had previously told Israel’s Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper that he did “not define myself as an exiled rabbi, I am a rabbi who is not living in his community”.

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But at an opening ceremony for the Conference of European Rabbis in Munich last week, Goldschmidt was accompanied by several German bodyguards while he delivered a speech attacking the war.

“We have to pray for peace and for the end of this terrible war,” he said. “We have to pray that this war will end soon and not escalate into a nuclear conflict that can destroy humanity.”



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Whoopi Goldberg’s Holocaust remarks need to be a ‘teaching moment’ for ‘The View,’ ABC: rabbi says

Whoopi Goldberg‘s suspension from “The View” following her controversial remarks about the Holocaust welcomes an “important” opportunity for ABC to take accountability and demonstrate a “national teaching moment,” Rabbi Abraham Cooper of Los Angeles’ Simon Wiesenthal Center says.

Speaking to Fox News Digital Friday, the associate dean and director of Global Social Action for the Jewish human rights organization said he believes Goldberg’s suspension was appropriate, but there’s more to be done. He also shared his view that Goldberg is “not an anti-Semite.”

“Whoopi Goldberg knows our center. She knows Rabbi Marvin Hier, our CEO and founder,” Rabbi Cooper said. “We’re not dealing with someone here who spoke in order to hurt anyone in our community. But what she said obviously is extremely confusing to people and in many ways hurtful.”

“Whoopi Goldberg has been held accountable for her speech. That’s fine. Now, ABC puts ‘The View’ on air, so ABC also has to take some responsibilities as the platform that delivered that information.”

WHOOPI GOLDBERG SUSPENDED FROM ‘THE VIEW’ FOLLOWING HOLOCAUST REMARKS

Whoopi Goldberg was suspended from ‘The View’ for two weeks following her remarks about the Holocaust.
(Walt Disney Television/Lou Rocco)

The Simon Wiesenthal Center has welcomed 7 million people through its doors since it opened in 1977, the rabbi said. The center teaches about racism, about the genocide of the Holocaust and anti-Semitism. Some 180,000 police officers have also been trained there.

Rabbi Cooper shared that the center reached out to Goldberg the morning after her on-air comments sparked controversy. He’s now informing ABC that “The View” is “welcome anytime.”

“The most important thing now is where did this idea [Goldberg shared] come from? And why it’s wrong,” the rabbi said. 

Cooper said the Simon Weisenthal Center’s educational arm, the Museum of Tolerance, has a 300-seat theater and is a fitting place for “The View” to film from.

WHOOPI GOLDBERG ISSUES APOLOGY FOR HOLOCAUST COMMENTS: ‘I STAND CORRECTED’

“ABC is welcome to come broadcast here for a week from the Museum of Tolerance. Maybe one or two of those days might be town hall meetings. Let people express themselves. It’s not about suppressing speech. It’s a matter of now an important learning moment that needs to be grabbed. All of that cannot be just on the shoulders of one person who misspoke,” Cooper said. 

Jewish groups condemned the comments, accusing ‘The View’ co-host of minimizing Jewish suffering.
( REUTERS/Lucas Jackson)

“The best result of all of this will be that millions of Americans will be able to understand why [Goldberg] was wrong, where did that all come from and how do we fight racism and hate together.”

The rabbi also spoke of the uptick in hate crimes in recent years, specifically against Jewish communities.

“We’re in a crisis mode on anti-Semitism,” he said. “I think part of the visceral reaction from the Jewish community when this statement was made is, we’re already on edge in terms of what’s going on with these hate crimes. Over the last four decades, the American Jewish communities have probably spent hundreds of millions of dollars to secure the physical safety of people coming to synagogue on Friday night or Saturday, of our kids going to Jewish schools, of people going to a Jewish community center.”

WHOOPI GOLDBERG SUSPENDED FROM ‘THE VIEW’ FOLLOWING HOLOCAUST REMARKS

In terms of how “The View” should handle the controversy moving forward, the rabbi said the next step is “really up to ABC.” He’s also hoping that the ABC talk show doesn’t conclude the discussion on this with a “three-minute thing at the beginning and then say, ‘We’re moving on.'”

Goldberg attempted to explain her remarks during her appearance on ‘The Late Show.’
(Late Show screenshot)

“There’s an important opportunity here for a national teaching moment,” he concluded.

ABC News President Kim Goodwin announced Goldberg’s two-week suspension in a statement Tuesday.

“Effective immediately, I am suspending Whoopi Goldberg for two weeks for her wrong and hurtful comments. While Whoopi has apologized, I’ve asked her to take time to reflect and learn about the impact of her comments. The entire ABC News organization stands in solidarity with our Jewish colleagues, friends and communities,” the statement says.

Goldberg went viral on Monday when she argued that the Holocaust “isn’t about race,” stunning her colleagues at the table. 

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“What is it about?” co-host Joy Behar asked. 

“It’s about man’s inhumanity to man, that’s what it’s about,” Goldberg said.  

“But it’s about a White supremacist going after Jews and Gypsies,” guest co-host Ana Navarro said as Goldberg attempted to speak over her. 

“But these are two White groups of people,” Goldberg said, her colleagues disagreeing. 

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Jewish groups condemned the comments, accusing her of minimizing Jewish suffering.

Goldberg attempted to explain her remarks during an appearance on “The Late Show.”

“It upset a lot of people which was never, ever, ever, ever my intention … I thought we were having a discussion,” Goldberg told Stephen Colbert. “I think of race as being something that I can see … You couldn’t tell who was Jewish. They had to delve deeply to figure it out … My point is, they had to do the work.”

She also told Colbert, “I don’t want to fake apologize … I’m very upset that people misunderstood what I was saying.”

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Sephardi chief rabbi disparages Reform Jews: ‘They have nothing’

Israel’s Sephardi Chief Rabbi, Yitzhak Yosef, has denigrated the Reform movement following a High Court ruling last week recognizing Reform and Conservative conversions performed in Israel.

“What is Reform conversion? It isn’t Jewish,” Yosef said in footage aired by Hebrew media on Saturday.

“If a Reform convert comes before me after marrying a Jewish woman, I’ll send her away without a divorce. She doesn’t need a divorce, the marriage is invalid,” he said.

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Reform and Conservative Jews “have nothing, no mitzvahs and nothing else,” he said.

Yosef made the comments this week in a weekly lesson at a synagogue in Jerusalem, according to Kikar Hashabbat, an ultra-Orthodox news site.

The bombshell High Court decision last week recognizes Reform and Conservative conversions carried out in Israel and sparked an uproar in the ultra-Orthodox community.

The decision requires Israel to grant citizenship to those in the country who convert to Judaism under non-Orthodox auspices. It will have little effect on the ground, but dents the ultra-Orthodox-dominated Rabbinate’s control over conversions in the country.

Ultra-Orthodox leaders do not view the Reform movement as an authentic form of Judaism and do not recognize Reform rabbis.

Attacks on Reform Jews by ultra-Orthodox, or Haredi, Israeli leaders are nothing new. A top priority of Haredi politicians in recent decades has been to preserve the monopoly of Orthodox rabbis over official religious ceremonies in Israel and prevent the government from recognizing the liberal Jewish denominations — Reform and Conservative — that represent most American Jews.

Yosef has a history of making provocative comments, including against Reform Judaism, women, the High Court of Justice and Black people.

He has called Reform synagogues a form of “idolatry” and said the movement “falsified the Torah”; suggested secular women behave like animals due to their immodest dress; and questioned the High Court’s authority on rulings pertaining to religion, while vowing to ignore its decisions.

Last year Yosef caused public outrage after doubting the Jewishness of immigrants from the former Soviet Union. In 2018, Yosef came under fire after he likened Black people to monkeys during his weekly sermon, a comment that led to calls for a criminal investigation.

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