Jewish Community of Balti

May 23, 2024

The Jewish Community of the Balti is dedicated to preserving and promoting Jewish heritage, culture, and religious traditions in Balti. The community organises regular religious services, educational programmes, cultural events, and social activities. It also offers social support and assistance to its members in need.

In addition, the community is actively involved in interfaith dialogue and outreach, fostering mutual understanding and respect among different communities. Through these efforts, the Jewish Community of the Balti aims to ensure the continuity of Jewish life and contribute positively to the cultural diversity of the country

Additional Articles

At Israel’s prodding, record 31 nations to boycott Durban conference anniversary

Envoy says dozens of countries will shun this year’s anti-racism conference at UN after past antisemitism; Bennett to make debut address at General Assembly next week

By TOI STAFF
Thirty-one nations will boycott a UN meeting marking the 20th anniversary of the Durban World Conference on Racism — also known as Durban IV — on Wednesday, over concerns that it will veer into open antisemitism as it has in the past.
The first Durban conference — held from August 31 to September 8, 2001, just days before the terror attacks of September 11 — was marked by deep divisions on the issues of antisemitism, colonialism and slavery. The US and Israel walked out of the conference in protest at the tone of the meeting, including over plans to include condemnations of Zionism in the final text.
At the 2009 conference, a speech by Iran’s then-president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad attacking Israel sparked a temporary walkout by many European delegates.
Thirty-one nations will boycott a UN meeting marking the 20th anniversary of the Durban World Conference on Racism — also known as Durban IV — on Wednesday, over concerns that it will veer into open antisemitism as it has in the past.
The first Durban conference — held from August 31 to September 8, 2001, just days before the terror attacks of September 11 — was marked by deep divisions on the issues of antisemitism, colonialism and slavery. The US and Israel walked out of the conference in protest at the tone of the meeting, including over plans to include condemnations of Zionism in the final text.
At the 2009 conference, a speech by Iran’s then-president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad attacking Israel sparked a temporary walkout by many European delegates.
This year, Israel’s Ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan said Friday, a record 31 countries will be skipping the event, over double the amount that have done so in the past.
“In recent months I have worked for the world to understand that the Durban Conference was fundamentally rotten,” he said in a Monday tweet. “I’m glad many more understand this today.”
The United States, Canada, the UK, Australia, and France are among some of the key nations set to boycott this year’s meeting.

Vaccines, climate, nuclear deal on General Assembly agenda

The highlight of the UN General Assembly, during which world leaders and other top officials deliver addresses from the marble-backed podium, begins on Tuesday in New York and will see a mixture of in-person speeches and pre-recorded video messages sent from around the world.
This year’s event and is markedly different from last year’s, which was conducted mostly online due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In addition to the speeches by world leaders, the General Assembly usually also has hundreds of side events, but only a limited number are being held this year, mainly virtually or outside UN headquarters.
These include events on vaccines, on children as invisible victims of the coronavirus and conflict, on multilateralism and democracy, and on global hotspots including Yemen, Somalia, Afghanistan and Iraq.
Additionally, the UN Security Council will hold a high-level meeting Wednesday on climate and security.
Afghanistan and other major global challenges are expected to be on the agenda, including the lack of progress on the United States rejoining the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.
Iran’s new foreign minister, Hossain Amir Abdollahian, will be in New York and there is speculation that he may meet with the five countries that remain part of the deal — Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany.
There are also high-level meetings on energy and the nuclear test ban treaty, and a summit on the connected system of producing, processing, distributing and consuming food, which according to the UN contributes an estimated one-third of greenhouse gas emissions.
Thirty-one nations will boycott a UN meeting marking the 20th anniversary of the Durban World Conference on Racism — also known as Durban IV — on Wednesday, over concerns that it will veer into open antisemitism as it has in the past.
The first Durban conference — held from August 31 to September 8, 2001, just days before the terror attacks of September 11 — was marked by deep divisions on the issues of antisemitism, colonialism and slavery. The US and Israel walked out of the conference in protest at the tone of the meeting, including over plans to include condemnations of Zionism in the final text.
At the 2009 conference, a speech by Iran’s then-president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad attacking Israel sparked a temporary walkout by many European delegates.
This year, Israel’s Ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan said Friday, a record 31 countries will be skipping the event, over double the amount that have done so in the past.
“In recent months I have worked for the world to understand that the Durban Conference was fundamentally rotten,” he said in a Monday tweet. “I’m glad many more understand this today.”
France are among some of the key nations set to boycott this year’s meeting.

Bennett’s debut

According to a provisional list of speakers for the General Debate, US president Joe Biden will speak on Tuesday morning, in America’s traditional slot as the second speaker of the General Debate.
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett will be another one of at least 83 world leaders who plan on attending in person, according to Turkish diplomat Volkan Bozkir, president of last year’s gathering. Twenty-six leaders applied to speak remotely, Bozkir said earlier this month. Bennett will address the gathering on Monday, September 27.
In his address, Bennett will speak about Israel’s national security and regional issues, according to his office. His remarks will likely focus on Iran’s nuclear program and its support for armed proxy groups.
Bennett’s predecessor, Benjamin Netanyahu, was known for making headlines with his speeches on the Iranian nuclear threat at the UN General Assembly, often using cardboard graphics and other props to get his point across.
Israel’s regional partners will also be represented, according to the provisional list. Egypt and Jordan will send their heads of state, while the foreign ministers of Israel’s new Gulf allies Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, will speak.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and new Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi are both sending prerecorded addresses to be broadcast at the event.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/at-israels-prodding-record-31-nations-to-boycott-durban-conference-anniversary/

Jewish museum of Porto hosts 1,000 students on historic anniversary

One thousand students from schools throughout Portugal toured the Jewish Museum of Porto, the museum announced last week.

The visit took place on the anniversary of the 1496 Edict of Expulsion, which banned Judaism in Portugal. The edict had a negative impact not just on the country’s Jews but on Portugal as a whole, explained Michael Rothwell, the museum’s director.

“The edict caused the Jews to leave the kingdom and enrich other competing powers,” Rothwell said. “A chain of events even led to the loss of Portugal’s independence in 1580, as seen from a rare object exhibited in the museum, the ‘Megillat Purim Sebastiano.’”

“This document demonstrates how the Moroccan Jewish community feared being forcibly converted to Christianity by Dom Sebastião. With the help of two Portuguese conversos (forcibly converted Jews), they provided decisive information for the Muslim armies to prepare for the clash,” Rothwell added. “This resulted in the crushing defeat of the Portuguese nobility, the death of the king, and, two years later, the loss of Portugal’s independence, which passed into Spanish hands.”

During their tour of Portugal’s second-largest city, the students learned about the history of Jewish life in the area, which dates to before the founding of the Kingdom of Portugal in the 12th century. Jews were instrumental in the founding and development of the country, the museum stated. Portugal currently has a Jewish population of 3,000 – 6,000 people.

Importance of Jews in Portugal

“The Jews played an important role in the administration of the country,” said Gabriel Senderowicz, president of Porto’s Jewish community. “With their scientific, cultural, commercial, and economic skills, as well as their mastery of many languages, they contributed to Portugal’s diplomatic relations and the voyages of discovery that transformed a small country into an empire,” Senderowicz said.

In the museum’s theater, students watched films produced by the community, including The Light of Judah, The Lisbon Genocide, and 1618. The films depict the immediate effects of the edict on Portuguese Jews, the massacre of thousands of Jews in Lisbon, and the Inquisition’s activities in Porto, respectively.

Hugo Vaz, a museum historian, discussed 1618 with the students.

“The municipal and judicial authorities of Porto opposed such Inquisitorial persecution and even ordered the siege of the ecclesiastical court by guards on horseback,” Vaz explained. “This unprecedented case in 17th-century Portugal led an onlooker, Sebastião de Noronha, to travel to Madrid to complain to King Dom Filipe.”

The museum, inaugurated in 2019, is open exclusively to schools and the Jewish community for security reasons. However, it opens to the public on the European Day of Jewish Culture, celebrated on the first Sunday of September, alongside the Holocaust Museum and the Kadoorie Mekor Haim Synagogue.

У Києві до Дня пам’яті жертв Голокосту почався міжнародний симпозіум, присвячений трагедії Бабиного Яру.

Як передає кореспондент Укрінформу, захід організовує Європейська єврейська асоціація (EJA) спільно з Меморіальним центром Голокосту «Бабин Яр» та Федерацією єврейських громад України.
В рамках симпозіуму відбудуться панельні дискусії, присвячені історії Голокосту та боротьбі з антисемітизмом, обговорюватимуться просвітницькі ініціативи за визначеною тематикою. Засновник і президент організації «Яхад-Ін Унум» отець Патрік Дебуа виступить з доповіддю про історію трагедії Бабиного Яру, раніше не відомі факти про катастрофу й політику замовчування в СРСР.
«Ми не можемо полишити це уроком історії. Це не лише історія, але і те, що актуально сьогодні, як і раніше. Ця ненависть, на жаль, не лише існує, але і продовжує зростати», – звернувся до учасників симпозіуму глава EJA Рабин Менахем Марголін.
Читайте також: Будинок контори єврейського кладовища передали для створення Музею жертв Бабиного Яру
Захід проходить за участю членів українського уряду, Голови Верховної Ради, представників Європарламенту, Сейму Польщі та парламентів інших європейських країн, посольства Ізраїлю в Україні та членів єврейських організацій.
«Єдиною запорукою порятунку від попередження і повторення таких жахіть є памʼять. І українці відчувають себе солідарними з мільйонами людей доброї волі у всьому світі, обʼєднані рішучістю убезпечити людство від руйнівних наслідків людиноненависництва, расизму та ксенофобії», – зазначив у виступі спікер Верховної Ради Руслан Стефанчук.
Під час Другої світової війни нацисти, які зайняли Київ, використовували урочище Бабин Яр як місце масових розстрілів цивільного населення, головним чином євреїв. 29 вересня 1941 року за наказом окупаційної адміністрації все єврейське населення було зобов’язане з’явитися до Бабиного Яру. Людей групами проводили через пропускний пункт, після чого заганяли на край яру і розстрілювали. Цього та наступного дня жертвами розправи стало 33 771 особа.
Читайте також: «Бабин Яр. Контекст» Лозниці номінували на премію Європейської кіноакадемії
Загалом масові вбивства в урочищі тривали до самого відходу нацистів із міста. У Бабиному Яру розстріляли більш як 100 тисяч людей.
 
https://www.ukrinform.ua/rubric-society/3390705-u-kievi-prohodit-miznarodnij-simpozium-prisvacenij-tragedii-babinogo-aru.html

Greetings for the Upcoming Rosh HaShanah by Prime Minister of Lichtenstein, H.E. Mr. Adrian Hasler

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