Good Wednesday morning!
In today’s edition of Your Daily Phil, we report on New York Gov. Kathy Hochul’s pledge to combat antisemitism and the publication of the Library of Congress’ Hebraic collection. We also feature an opinion piece by Stephanie Blumenkranz and Julie Wiener. We’ll start with an update from the Anti-Defamation League and the opening of the Conference of European Rabbis’ headquarters in Munich.
Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt reversed course and decided that he will attend a meeting on Friday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and American Jewish leaders that is scheduled for Friday in New York, an ADL official told eJewishPhilanthropy’s Haley Cohen.
On Monday, the official said that Greenblatt would not attend the meeting, which is scheduled for Friday afternoon, as he had a prior engagement. Last night, the ADL spokesperson said Greenblatt had changed his mind.
“Due to the importance of meeting with the prime minister, Jonathan will be attending,” the official said.
The Conference of European Rabbis opened its first headquarters in Munich on Tuesday night at an event attended by the organization’s president, exiled Moscow Chief Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt, members of the local Jewish community, visiting rabbis, Bavarian government officials and supporters, reports eJP’s Judah Ari Gross from Germany.
The offices, located in Munich’s tony Maxvorstadt neighborhood, will allow the organization, which has until now operated out of the various leaders’ personal offices, the chance to further professionalize the organization and expand its operations, those involved with the effort told eJP.
“We will be focusing on strengthening small communities, strengthening the rabbinate and strengthening the rebbetzins,” Goldschmidt told eJP on the sidelines of the opening. “The rabbis coming out of the yeshivas don’t always know how to run communities.”
The Conference of European Rabbis, which was formed in the mid-1950s, serves as an umbrella group for Orthodox rabbis from across the continent — particularly those who are not affiliated with the Chabad-Lubavitch movement, which is something of a rival. Most recently, the group has focused its efforts on protecting religious practices like kosher slaughter, or shechita, and circumcisions as some politicians move to ban them. Goldschmidt said with its new offices and budget, his organization won’t “just be playing defense [on these issues], now we’ll be a bit more proactive” in preventing them before they get to the stage of legislation.
The longtime head of the Jewish community in Munich and Upper Bavaria,Charlotte Knobloch, 90, was noticeably moved by the opening of an international Jewish group in her city. “Those of us who have been around here for quite some time know how important it is that CER and Rabbi Goldschmidt have found a home here,” she said. “Nobody could have expected what is now a reality.”
In her speech at the opening, Knobloch added: “Now the heart of European Jewry beats in Bavaria.”
Read the full report here.
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