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NEWS
Euro-Asian Rabbinical Conference Held in Kazakhstan
by Yated Ne'eman Staff
Last week the founding conference of the Congress of Euro-
Asian Rabbis was held in Alma-Ata, capital of Kazakhstan. The
Congress' general secretary, Moscow Chief Rabbi Pinchas
Goldschmidt, said all of the rabbonim and kehillos in
Eurasia would now benefit from assistance and guidance in all
areas of Jewish life and would be well represented in the
Congress. "We will set up botei knesses, schools and
talmudei Torah wherever needed and will nurture Jewish
life as we were instructed by gedolei Yisroel, in
keeping with moreshes Yisroel Saba."
At the reception held by Jewish governor Alexander Moscovitz
at the Alma-Ata Jewish Center, conference participants and
hundreds of members of the local Jewish community were
informed of the horrifying bus bombing near Chadera on
Tuesday. The event was cut short and all present began
reciting Tehillim. Amnevak Mucheshaiev, Kazakhstan's
Minister of Religious Affairs who was present at the affair,
denounced the heinous attack in the name of the Kazakh
government and expressed his hopes that the dialogue begun
between Congress representatives and Kazakhstan's Muslim
leadership would leave the nations that support terror a
minority in the Muslim world. Israel's ambassador to
Kazakhstan, Moshe Kimchi, also attended the event.
Dozens of rabbonim from numerous countries took part in the
opening of the conference, including HaRav Nissim Rebibo
(Paris), HaRav Yonasen Gutenteg (Manchester), HaRav Moshe
Lebel (Moscow/Israel), HaRav Mordechai Shodrin (Warsaw),
HaRav Zalman Kosovsky (Switzerland), HaRav Yaakov Simcho
Cohen (Australia), HaRav Shlomo Atias (Manila, Philippines),
Azerbaijan Chief Rabbi Moshe Kishon, Ukrainian Chief Rabbi
Yaakov Bleich, Russian Chief Rabbi Avrohom Scheibitz, HaRav
Berl Sissin (Moscow), HaRav Dovid Karpov (Moscow), HaRav
Aryeh Becker (Riga, Latvia), Elimelech Rosenblatt (Tbilisi,
Georgia), Kazakhstan Chief Rabbi Yeshayo Cohen, HaRav Shmuel
Karnaveh (Pavlodar, Kazakhstan), HaRav Yehuda Kovalkin
(Astna, Kazakhstan), HaRav Elchonon Cohen (Alma-Ata) and
HaRav Moshe Dovid Cohen (Alma-Ata).
Last Wednesday all of the participants were flown to Israel
where they met with other rabbonim, admorim and other
figures.
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