Tuesday, May 12, 2015

Rabbi:Europe Anti-Semitism Foils Jews' Judaism; "More Important to Stay Alive Than Stay Jewish"

The president of one of Europe's leading Orthodox Jewish networks said today (May 12, 2015) that the recent upsurge of attacks against Jews in Europe has driven many Jews away from an active Jewish life, according to the Algemeiner website.

"We're dealing with a large number of Jews who because of the risk involved, and terrorist attacks, have stopped coming to Jewish events," Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt told the Algemeiner website. "It's more important [for these Jews] to stay alive than to stay Jewish."

The 51-year-old Swiss-born Conference of European Rabbis (CER) president -- who is also the Chief Rabbi of Moscow -- said apathy was a greater risk to the Jews in Europe because as an issue it is more elusive than both anti-Semitism and assimilation.

"While assimilation and anti-Semitism can be addressed directly, apathy is a much harder issue to address... There is a certain percentage of Jews saying 'I'd be better hiding,'" Goldschmidt said. "Our message to our community is that this is not the answer."

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