European rabbis gather to address challenges facing Jewish community

“The past two years have only reinforced the importance and need of bringing informed and passionate rabbinical couples and educators from Israel to Jewish communities across the globe,” explained Rabbi Eliahu Birnbaum, Director of the Straus-Amiel and Beren-Amiel Emissary Programs, part of the Ohr Torah Stone network. “And after two years in which we did not have in-person conferences, our shlichim felt the need to gather together to address the challenges and questions being raised in their communities. The most effective way to support our graduates in the field is to be there with them, on the ground.”
Israel’s Minister of Diaspora Affairs, Nachman Shai (Labor), addressed participants in the conference’s opening panel, stating that “anti-Semitism is alive and kicking”, referring to a report published by his Ministry ahead of this Thursday’s International Holocaust Remembrance Day and recording a jump in the number and areas where anti-Semitic incidents occurred.

“There aren’t two Jewish nations – one in Israel and one in the Diaspora,” Shai said. “We have one Jewish nation, and we know too well that anti-Semitism doesn’t differentiate between Jews in the Diaspora or Jews in Israel.”
Minister Shai commended the work of the Straus-Amiel rabbinical emissaries and the Beren-Amiel educational emissaries saying, “Vibrant Jewish life starts with education and your efforts are so important for the future of our people. Your work helps inspires the passion for Judaism and Israel in our younger generation, and we know that without lighting that fire we won’t be able to encourage increased aliyah (immigration to Israel – ed.). Our goal has to be ensuring aliyah by choice, not from lack of choice.”
Beyond the many practical challenges imposed by the pandemic in many communities, the Jewish world has been witness to many shifting trends that require an educated and halakhic response by religious community rabbis and teachers. Among the topics being addressed at the conference are the changing role of women in traditional Judaism, interfaith education, Judaism in the digital and global era, as well as challenges facing the family unit during shlichut.

Participants also heard about Israeli government reforms in areas of kashrut and conversion from Israeli Minister of Religious Affairs Matan Kahana (Yamina); enjoyed a halakhic question and answer session with Rabbi Eliezer Melamed; examined case-studies of halakhic communal dilemmas; and shared educational, outreach, and programming ideas with one another through a variety of sessions.

Addressing the series of reforms that his government has introduced in recent weeks in regards to conversion and kashrut supervision, Minister Kahana said, “I believe our mission is to preserve the spiritual future of the State of Israel and Jewish identity. Today there is no enemy or external force that can drive us out of the State of Israel; the only ones who can evict us are us ourselves. We find ourselves in a time of deep division within Israeli society.”
Ohr Torah Stone’s Straus-Amiel and Beren-Amiel emissary programs, established in 1998, train Modern Orthodox, religious Zionist rabbis and educators for communal, educational and spiritual leadership positions and has placed emissaries in hundreds of locations across the globe. “Our emissaries serve as a bridge between Israel and the rest of the world while also representing a face of Judaism that is often absent in many of the smaller and larger communities we serve,” explained Rabbi Kenneth Brander, President and Rosh HaYeshiva of Ohr Torah Stone.” At present, the program has 266 shlichim placed in 89 cities in 39 countries around the world, including Germany, the United States, Spain, South Africa, Brazil, Italy, Kenya, England, the Philippines, Poland, Denmark, Turkey, Colombia, Norway, Singapore, Switzerland, Canada and more.