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Summary:
 The Conference of European Rabbis was established in 1956
on the initiative of Chief Rabbi Sir Israel Brodie, and with the encouragement
of a leading European philanthropist, Mr Ivan Salomon. All the
European Chief Rabbis immediately joined this body, and the first conference
was held in Amsterdam in 1957. The declaration of the initial
conference read as follows:
-
Belief in the Oral Law, in our bond
with the State of Israel, ethics and religion, and the Jewish role
in disseminating the Prophetic Message.
-
Call to all to observe Torah, including
Shabbat, education, Kashrut, Family Purity and exemplary conduct;
and a charge to leaders.
-
Appeal to maintain halachic standards
in marriage, divorce and conversion.
-
Decision to create one committee to
deal with halachic challenges and another to address youth and modernity.
-
Greetings to Israeli and East European
Jewry.
-
Gratitude to their Dutch and Jewish
hosts.
It further went on in an appendix document:
This meeting of Rabbis of Europe assembled in conference
here in Amsterdam DECLARE as follows:
Faithful to the teachings of the Torah, the Prophets and
the Sages of Israel WE FIRMLY BELIEVE
-
That eternal validity attaches to the Divine Law as
revealed in our sacred scriptures and as authentically interpreted
in all ages by the Rabbis acknowledging the authority of the Written
and Oral Law of Judaism, and that Halacha forms the basis
of Jewish life;
-
That the restoration of the Jewish State in the Holy
Land is a manifest sign of the Divine mercy to the Jewish people,
that Israel's well-being is bound up with its moral and religious
strength, that the religious bond is the sole enduring link between
the Jews of Israel and the Diaspora, and that Israel is destined
to become the source of religious inspiration to the Jewish people
and the world at large;
-
That all international relations and dealings between
nations must be governed by ethical and religious principles, without
which human happiness cannot be secured;
-
That the remarkable advances in science and technology
may become a menace to mankind unless they are used with due regard
for the above-mentioned principles, in the dissemination of which
the Jewish people, as the bearer of the message of the Prophets,
have a special role to play.
As spiritual leaders of our people
WE SOLEMNLY CALL UPON
- Every Jew to strive so to conduct his life as to make it a living
expression of the Divine Will, by loyal observance of the Laws of
the Torah, notably the Sabbath and Festivals, religious upbringing
of the young, Kashrut, the purity of family life and devotion
to the highest ethical ideas in his relations with his fellow-men;
- The spiritual guides of our communities and leaders of Jewish
thought to apply themselves together with us, to the solution of
the perplexing moral problems besetting Jewish and all human life
in light of the Divine Law, and to fight uncompromisingly against
the evils of materialism and secularism.
As the custodians and teachers of Jewish Law
WE EMPHATICALLY DECLARE
That marriage, divorce and conversions will only be recognised and
are only valid in Jewish Law when they have been carried out in
strict conformity with the Din. In order to prevent
irreparable personal tragedies and to preserve the unity of the
Jewish people, we earnestly appeal to the Jewish public not to be
parties to marriages, divorces or conversions which would be contrary
to Jewish Law.
As a representative selection of spiritual leaders of
European Jewry WE DECIDE
- To appoint an Organising Committee which will
make preparations for the setting up of a European
Federation of Orthodox Rabbis, and to form a European
Halachic Commission which will in consultation with
the Gedole Hador in Israel and the Diaspora
submit proposals on halachic questions to a further
Rabbinical conference to be called:
- To appoint a committee to advise on the publication
of literature devoted to the strengthening and interpretation
of Jewish religious observance, with particular
emphasis on the Jewish youth of Europe, and directed
towards dealing with modern science and sociology
from the religious point of view.
In the name of European Jewry
WE SEND WARM GREETINGS
- To the people of Israel and its spiritual leaders,
at the head of whom stand the Chief Rabbis of the
Holy Land;
- To the spiritual leaders and members of the
Jewries of Eastern Europe whom we consider to be
an integral part of the world community of Jews,
and we express our regret at the inability of our
colleagues from Eastern Europe to be present at
this Rabbinical Conference as we had hoped they
would; our hope that at the next meeting of Rabbis
we shall have the pleasure of being reunited with
them, and in the meanwhile we express our deep thanks
for the brotherly and sincere words of greetings
which we received from them during the Conference.
CER Today
It is run by a standing committee of 25 members which
meets twice a year. There is a convention of the
entire organisation once every two years. To this
convention, all the Chief Rabbis and congregational
Rabbis in Europe are invited. The convention is
held over a three-day period and usually includes a
visit to the Head of State in which the conference is
being held.
The Conference of European Rabbis is a facilitating
organisation that looks after the needs and problems
of Rabbis throughout Europe. It assists them with
problems concerning Kashrut, gerut, gittin, fundraising,
recruitment of teachers and Rabbis; in fact, all the
issues that affect a Rabbi and his congregation
The CER has established a Kashrut department - ECK
- that has been established in order to allow the different
Kashrut bodies in Europe to discuss issues of mutual
concern. The ECK also offers advice to Rabbis
who need guidance in Hashgacha of products.
The CER has also recently established a department
that deals with the building of Mikvaot. These
are being placed in cities where there is no current
Mikva, mainly in Eastern Europe.
Standing Committee:
The members of the standing committee are listed
here
Current Activities:
- Yarchei Kalla
- Mikva building programmes
- Locating funding for schools and kindergartens
- Organising a regular Beth Din for German Jewry
- Placing of Rabbis and teachers
- Seminars concerning Kashrut
- Negotiations with the Lithuanian government
for the return of Jewish property
- Establishing a community centre in Kaliningrad
- Establishing a joint monitoring forum in Brussels
in conjunction with the European Jewish Congress
and the European Commission
- Management training seminar for Rabbis
- Ten-city programme in conjunction with Ner Lelef
in Russia.
The CER participates in meetings with the following
organisations:
- European Jewish Congress
- WJRO
- ECJC
- European Commission
- Claims Conference
We are an accredited NGO in Strasbourg and Brussels.
The officers of the organisation are:
- Chief
Rabbi J Sitruk (President)
- Rabbi P Goldschmidt (Chairman
of Standing Committee)
- Dayan C H Ehrentreu (Head of
CER Beth Din Germany)
- Cllr A M Dunner (Executive Director)
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