By Yossi Lempkowicz,
This is the first such gathering in a Muslim nation.
Historically, Azerbaijan is home to three distinct Jewish communities with the country devoid of antisemitism.
By Etgar Lefkovits, JNS
Hundreds of European rabbis from across the continent will be gathering in Azerbaijan this fall to discuss Jewish affairs in the first such convention in a Muslim nation.
The planned event comes amid burgeoning relations between Israel and Azerbaijan that developed from a centuries-long affinity between the two nations into an unprecedented strategic partnership.
The biennial convention of the Conference of European Rabbis is scheduled to take place in Baku between Nov. 12-15 at the invitation of Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev, who will serve as the honorary host, with about 500 rabbis expected to attend the event.
The primary Orthodox rabbinical alliance in Europe, the organization unites more than 700 religious leaders from communities across Europe. Founded in 1956, it works to defend the rights of Jews in Europe, with freedom of religion and matters related to the Jewish communities expected to be front and center at the conference.
“Azerbaijan is a place with a special memory for the Jewish people, and is home to one of the most unique Jewish communities in the world,” said Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt, president of the Conference of European Rabbis who met with Aliyev earlier this year.
“The developing ties between Israel and Azerbaijan are of great importance in today’s Middle East,” he added.
The Zurich-born Goldschmidt, who served as chief rabbi of Moscow for nearly three decades, left Russia last year following the invasion of Ukraine and then resigned from his position. His subsequent public criticism of the war led him to be branded by Russia as a “foreign agent.”