Chief Rabbi of Moscow Pinchas Goldschmidt

2024 Author: Miguel Ramacey | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 06:11

Currently, the largest public figure representing the Jewish community of Russia in the global political arena is Pinchas Goldschmidt. His biography formed the basis of this article. As President of the Conference of European Rabbis, which brings together representatives from more than forty countries, he makes every effort to eradicate anti-Semitism, a disgusting relic of past centuries.

Son of the venerable Solomon Goldschmidt

On July 21, 1963 in Zurich, in a family of religious Jews, followers of one of the most common Jewish movements - Hasidism, the future Chief Rabbi of Moscow Pinchas Goldschmidt was born. In this Swiss city, the family had deep roots. And the boy's parents were already her fourth generation. His father is Solomon Goldschmidt. He was always respected and was known as a successful and energetic entrepreneur.

My father's ancestors settled in Switzerland during the First World War,having arrived there from France. Relatives on the maternal side lived in Austria. After its capture by Germany, they ended up in a concentration camp, from which they were not destined to return. The only exception was Pinchas's grandmother, who fell ill with tuberculosis. In 1938, a few weeks before Hitler's invasion, she came to Switzerland for treatment, where she was forced to stay.

Today's head of the Moscow Jewish community, Pinchas Goldshmidt, chose the path of a Jewish spiritual leader for a reason. He not only comes from a deeply religious family, but also the great-grandson of the Chief Rabbi of Denmark, who later headed the Rabbinate of Zurich. The same path was chosen by his younger brother, who is today a rabbi in South Africa.

Years of study of the future rabbi

Contrary to popular belief, in Judaism a rabbi is not a clergyman. The word itself translates as "teacher". And the one who is honored with this title is called to be a mentor and interpreter of the sacred books of the Torah and the Talmud. In addition, he is obliged in any situation to give wise and reasonable advice to everyone who turns to him for help. Therefore, he himself must be a deeply educated and erudite person.

Pinchas Goldschmidt, like no one else, meets these high requirements. Behind him are years spent in the two largest yeshivot (Jewish religious educational institutions) in Israel and America. The result of the training was a rabbinic smich - a diploma that gives the right to lead a community, teach in a yeshiva, and also be a member of a religious court. In addition to the traditionalJewish, he also received a higher secular education, graduating from the University of B altimore.

Moving to Moscow

Pinchas Goldshmidt began his activity in 1987 as a member of the rabbinate of the Israeli city of Nazareth Illit. Two years later, as a representative of the World Jewish Congress and the Chief Rabbinate of Israel, he was sent to Moscow. At that time, an institute for the study of Judaism was established at the USSR Academy of Sciences, headed by Rabbi Adin Steins altz. He needed a qualified person to help him, who could also take on the duties of a lecturer.

Arriving in the capital and starting to fulfill his duties, still quite young in those years, Pinchas Goldshmidt received an offer from the Chief Rabbi of Russia Adolf Shayevich to head the rabbinical court of the country. The competence of this body includes such issues as Jewish weddings, divorces, confirmation of Jewishness for leaving for Israel, etc.

On the way to the revival of national traditions

Having demonstrated high organizational skills in this post, as well as discretion in decision-making, in 1993 Goldschmidt received the post of Chief Rabbi of Moscow. Thanks to his active work, a program developed by the Israeli Foreign Ministry aimed at returning Jews to their national roots began to be implemented in Russia.

These were the years when fresh perestroika trends created a favorable atmosphere for the revival of the national identity of many peoples, primarily Russian. Fromfaceless internationalism of the Soviet period, people turned to their age-old traditions. It was then that the process of returning the churches taken from it, the creation of new Orthodox communities, began. Representatives of other nationalities that inhabited the country, including Jews, did not stand aside from the general movement.

Initiative not accepted by part of society

Since the beginning of the nineties, Chief Rabbi of Moscow Pinchas Goldschmidt has launched extensive work on the creation and development of various Jewish public structures, as well as day schools, colleges, kindergartens and even yeshivas. In this he relied on the support of the Congress of Jewish Organizations and Associations of Russia. Unfortunately, his activities did not find understanding in all strata of Russian society.

The result of misunderstandings was the appeal of five hundred citizens of the country, including cultural figures, editors of individual newspapers and nineteen deputies, sent in 2005 to the Prosecutor General of Russia VV Ustinov. It contained a demand to ban the activities of all Jewish national associations on the territory of the Russian Federation, recognizing them as extremist. To substantiate their claims, the persons who sent the letter cited tendentiously selected quotations from the Jewish code "Kitzur Shulchan Aruch", published shortly before in Russian.

Despite the fact that this appeal was sharply condemned by many leading political figures, such as Gennady Zyuganov, Dmitry Rogozin, Heydar Dzhemal and others, but the Russian Foreign Ministrypublished a statement that it had nothing to do with the position of the government, Pinchas Goldschmidt was deported from the country. He continued his work as Chief Rabbi and Chairman of the Jewish Court of Moscow in 2011.

Fighter against anti-Semitism

Today, Pinchas Goldschmidt, whose photo is presented in the article, is one of the leaders in the fight against anti-Semitism deployed in the world. He repeatedly raised this topical issue in his speeches in the American Senate, the Council of Europe, the European Parliament, Oxford University, and many other influential public organizations. In his work, he finds support from many progressive politicians.