Currently, the largest public figure representing the Jewish community of Russia in the global political field is Pinchas Goldschmidt. His biography formed the basis of this article. As president of the Conference of European Rabbis, bringing together representatives of more than forty states, he is making every effort to eradicate anti-Semitism - a hideous remnant of past centuries.
Son of the venerable Solomon Goldschmidt
July 21, 1963 in Zurich, in the family of religious Jews, followers of one of the most common Jewish movements - Hasidism, the future chief rabbi of Moscow Pinchas Goldschmidt was born. In this Swiss city, the family had deep roots. And the boy’s parents were her fourth generation. His father is Solomon Goldschmidt. He was always respected, and was known as a successful and energetic entrepreneur.
The ancestors of his father settled in Switzerland during the First World War, having arrived there from France. Relatives on the maternal side lived in Austria. After its capture by Germany, they ended up in a concentration camp from which they were not destined to return. The only exception was Pinchas's grandmother, who became ill with tuberculosis. In 1938, she arrived for treatment in Switzerland a few weeks before Hitler's invasion, where she was forced to stay.
Today's head of the Jewish community of Moscow, Pinchas Goldschmidt, is no coincidence that he chose the path of a Jewish spiritual leader in life. He is not only a native of a deeply religious family, but also the great-grandson of the chief rabbi of Denmark, who then headed the rabbi of Zurich. The same path was chosen by his younger brother, who is today a rabbi in South Africa.
Years of study of the future rabbi
Contrary to popular belief, in Judaism the rabbi is not a clergyman. This word itself is translated as "teacher." And one who is awarded this title is called to be a mentor and interpreter of the holy books of the Torah and Talmud. In addition, he is obliged in any situation to give wise and reasonable advice to everyone who comes to him for help. Therefore, he himself must be a man deeply educated and erudite.
Pinchas Goldschmidt, like no other, meets these high requirements. He has spent years in the two largest yeshiva (Jewish religious educational institutions) in Israel and America. The result of the training was a rabbinical smikh - a diploma giving the right to lead a community, teach in the yeshiva, and also be a member of a religious court. In addition to traditional Jewish, he also received a higher secular education, graduating from the University of Baltimore.
Moving to Moscow
Pinchas Goldschmidt began his activities in 1987 as a member of the rabbinate of the Israeli city of Nazareth Ilit. Two years later, he was sent to Moscow as a representative of the World Jewish Congress and chief rabbi of Israel. At that time, an institute for the study of Judaism was created at the USSR Academy of Sciences, which was headed by Rabbi Adin Steinsalz. He needed a qualified employee to help, who was also able to assume the duties of a lecturer.
Arriving in the capital and taking up his duties, Pinchas Goldschmidt, still very young in those years, received an offer from the Chief Rabbi of Russia, Adolf Shaevich, to head the country's rabbinical court. The authority of this body includes issues such as Jewish weddings, divorces, confirmation of Jewishness to travel to Israel, etc.
On the way to the revival of national traditions
Having demonstrated high organizational skills and discretion in decision-making at this post, in 1993 Goldschmidt received the position of chief rabbi of Moscow. Thanks to his active work, a program developed by the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs aimed at returning Jews to their national roots began to be implemented in Russia.
These were the years when fresh perestroika trends created a favorable atmosphere for the revival of the national identity of many peoples, primarily the Russian one. From the faceless internationalism of the Soviet period, people turned to their centuries-old traditions. It was then that the process of returning the Russian church to the churches taken away from it, the creation of new Orthodox communities, began. Representatives of other nationalities inhabiting the country, including Jews, did not stand aside from the general movement.
Initiative not accepted by part of society
Since the early nineties, the chief Moscow rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt has launched extensive work on the creation and development of various Jewish public structures, as well as day schools, colleges, kindergartens and even yeshivas. In this, he relied on the support of the Congress of Jewish organizations and associations of Russia. Unfortunately, his activity found understanding not in all layers of Russian society.
The result of misunderstandings was the appeal of five hundred citizens of the country, including cultural figures, editors of individual newspapers and nineteen deputies, sent in 2005 to the Prosecutor General of Russia V.V. Ustinov. It contained a demand to ban the activities of all Jewish national associations on the territory of the Russian Federation, recognizing them as extremist. To justify their claims, the persons who sent the letter cited biased quotes from the Jewish code “Kitsur Shulkhan Arukh”, published shortly before that in Russian.
Despite the fact that this appeal was sharply condemned by many leading political figures, such as Gennady Zyuganov, Dmitry Rogozin, Heydar Dzhemal and others, and the Russian Foreign Ministry issued a statement that it had nothing to do with the position of the government, Pinchas Goldschmidt was deported from the country . He continued his activities as chief rabbi and chairman of the Jewish court of Moscow in 2011.
Fighter against anti-Semitism
Today, Pinchas Goldschmidt, whose photo is presented in the article, is one of the leaders in the fight against anti-Semitism. He repeatedly raised this burning issue at his speeches in the American Senate, the Council of Europe, the European Parliament, Oxford University, as well as many other influential public organizations. In his work, he finds support among many progressive politicians.