A delegation of the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress and the World Jewish Congress led by EAJC President Mikhail Mirilashvili held warm and productive meetings Prime Minister Mamuka Bakhtadze and the President Salome Zourabichvili.

Other members of the delegation included Robert Singer, WJC CEO & Executive Vice President, Aaron G. Frenkel, Chair of EAJC Governing Board, Temur Ben Yehuda (Khikhinashvili), EAJC First Vice President, Dr. Haim Ben Yakov, EAJC CEO, and Berel Lazar, the Head of the rabbinical Council of the CIS, the Chief Rabbi of Russia.

The talks focused on a range of topics, including the coexistence of Jews and Georgians for 2,600 years, their shared culture and value of tolerance, and the strong relations of the Georgian Jewish diaspora with the community that remains.

The delegations also discussed the excellent bilateral relations with Israel and the need to enhance it even further, and UNESCO’s recognition of the long Jewish presence in Georgia. They also spoke about tourism of Georgians in Israel, and Israelis in Georgia, and pride in the new Jewish school that recently opened in Tbilisi. The delegations also said that they were looking forward to enhancing business and economic opportunities of Georgia and Israel.

The delegation was also privileged to take part in the opening ceremony of the Jewish school in Tbilisi, which was funded by EAJC. The school will serve as a significant symbol of cultivating the Jewish future within Georgia

EAJC President Mikhail Mirilashvili: “it is heartwarming to see the strong relations of the Georgian government with Israel and world Jewry. Georgia has always been tolerant and welcoming to its Jewish population, which is greatly appreciated. EAJC will gladly support the initiative of commemorating Jewish life in Georgia together with WJC and UNESCO”.

EAJC Chair of the Governing Board Aaron G. Frenkel added: “we are pleased to learn of the enhancement of tourism, trade and commerce between Georgia, Israel, and the Jewish people, something which can set as an example to many more regions in the world”.

On the first leg of a visit to Central Asia this week, a Euro-Asian Jewish Congress – World Jewish Congress Delegation headed by Mikhail Mirilashvili, EAJC President, met today with Azeri President Ilham Aliyev. The delegation was also co-led by Robert Singer, WJC CEO & Executive Vice President and Aaron G. Frenkel, Chair of EAJC Governing Board.

Greeting the delegation, President Aliyev spoke of how the Jewish and Azeri people have had warm and close relations throughout history, recalling how many Jews found shelter in Azerbaijan during World War II. Today there are three Jewish communities living in harmony and with close relations in Azerbaijan: the Ashkenazi, Georgian and Bukharan Jewish communities, and the President noted his pleasure at the warm relations the government has with these communities. The meeting also included Ali Hasanov, Assistant to the President for Public and Politicial Issues, Head of Department, Temur Khikhinashvili, EAJC First Vice President, and Dr. Haim Ben Yakov, EAJC CEO.

EAJC President Mirilashvili spoke of the positive bilateral relations with Israel and thanked President Aliyev for this. The issue of opening an embassy in Israel was raised and the President responded that the issue was currently under discussion. Mr. Mirilashvili emphasized that Israelis and Jews from the diaspora are looking forward to bringing new initiatives and technologies to Azerbaijan, including in the fields of agriculture and medicine. Mr. Singer suggested the option of opening a representative office in Israel in the fields of culture, science and tourism, which the President found as a very good proposal and said he would positively consider this option.

Russian Chief Rabbi and Chair of the Federation of Jewish Communities of the CIS Berel Lazar spoke of the flourishing Jewish life in Azerbaijan, with a thriving Jewish school and a new Mikve (ritual bath) being under construction. Coincidentally while the delegation was in Baku, the first ever Kosher restaurant in Azerbaijan was opened, which symbolizes the strong connection of Judaism with the Azeri people.

EAJC and WJC representatives both expressed their willingness to assist with all issues related the Jewish communities in Azerbaijan.

Other members of the delegation included Rabbi Shneor Segal, Alexander Sharovsky, Chair of the Jewish Community, Eugeny Brenneysen, Vice-Chair of the Jewish Community, Meny Bushuev, EAJC Treasurer and Itai Hacham, Political Officer to WJC CEO.

President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev met last Monday with a delegation of Jewish leaders from around the world led by President of the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress (EAJC) Michael Mirilashvili, EAJC Chairman of the Board Aaron G. Frenkel, EAJC Vice President Temur Ben Yehuda (Khikhinashvili) and the Head of the rabbinical Council of the CIS, Chief Rabbi of Russia Berel Lazar.

The parties noted that the Jewish community of Kazakhstan has been thriving and receiving all the support it needs from the government. The leaders urged President Tokayev to support Israel on the international stage and thanked the head of state for taking a firm stand in denouncing anti-Semitism and supporting the Jewish community.

At the meeting, the leaders discussed a wide range of issues pertaining to the current situation of the Jewish community and bilateral relations between Kazakhstan and Israel.

In addition to meeting with the President of Kazakhstan, the delegation of Jewish leaders also met with the country’s prime minister, Askar Mamin, who told the participants about his plans to visit Israel by official invitation of Prime Minister Netanyahu and expressed hopes for expanding bilateral trade between the two countries.

The delegation held business meetings with the Israeli ambassador in Kazakhstan, Liat Vekselman, as well as religious and secular leaders of Jewish communities from across Kazakhstan that receive the support and assistance from EAJC. Members of the delegation were invited to join a session of the Assembly of People of Kazakhstan.

After visiting Kazakhstan, the delegation headed to Azerbaijan for the next round of top-level talks.

Members of the delegation included EAJC CEO, Haim Ben Yakov, President of the Association of Jewish Communities of Kazakhstan – “Mitzvah,” Alexander Baron, and Chief Rabbi of Kazakhstan, Yeshaya Cohen.

On behalf of the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress, we would like to express our heartfelt condolences to the people of Sri Lanka and the national government in connection with the Sunday tragedy which took the lives of hundreds of civilians. We unequivocally condemn any acts of violence directed against the civilian population regardless of their political, ideological, and religious motives and hope that the perpetrators of these inhumane terror attacks will be found speedily and brought to justice according to all the strictness of the law. Our prayers go to the families of all the victims of these events and all the people of Sri Lanka.

Today, President of Montenegro, Milo Djukanovic, is continuing his official visit of Israel and meeting with the country’s leadership: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Reuven Rivlin and Speaker of the Knesset Yuli Edelstein. The topics discussed during the visit include the current situation of Montenegro’s Jewish community, as well as developing joint economic, diplomatic, and tourism projects between the two countries.

The focal point of the second day of the visit was President Djukanovic’s meeting with the Jewish leaders from around the world and discussing the issues of developing local Jewish communities, studying the history of Montenegro’s Jewry, as well as the role played by the country’s Jewish diaspora in strengthening relations between Montenegro and Israel. President of the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress (EAJC), Mikhail Mirilashvili, Director General of EAJC, Chaim Ben-Yakov, and Chief Rabbi of Montenegro, Ari Edelkopf, took part in the meeting.

President Djukanovic mentioned that Montenegro is one of the few European countries, where the Jewish population had actually increased after World War II. He added that there is “no anti-Semitism” in this small Balkan nation unlike other countries in the region, where this problem is rather acute. Mikhail Mirilashvili thanked the President of Montenegro for earmarking a plot of land for the construction of the country’s first Jewish center and the government’s active role in developing the local Jewish community and preserving the historical memory.

Director General of EAJC, Chaim Ben-Yakov, shared the plans for opening a regional office of the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress in the capital of Montenegro, whose focus is going to be working with the Balkan states.

Montenegro hosts the annual regional Jewish conference, Mahar. Over 300 people participate in it every year, including members of Albanian, Serbian, Bosnian, Herzegovinian, Montenegrin, and Croatian Jewish communities. The conference is organized by a local Jewish community with the support from EAJC.

The country’s Jewish community is one of the world’s youngest, it was officially registered in July 2011. In late January 2012, the Jewish community and the government signed a law on mutual relations, according to which Judaism was recognized as one of Montenegro’s four traditional religions. Every year, thousands of Israeli tourists visit the country.

Dear Mr. Moshe Lion,

On behalf of the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress (EAJC), we congratulate you on your election as mayor of Jerusalem. In a competitive and fair fight, you were supported by the majority of residents of the city of Jerusalem – the eternal capital of world cultures and civilizations.
Our citizens believed in you and your team’s ability to change life for the better, and in your intentions to create conditions for solving not only urban communal problems, but also issues of a global scale, and to contribute to ensuring security, peace and harmony in our land.
We hope that the Jerusalem leadership will react positively to the initiative of the EAJC and a number of public organizations and citizens, to establish a memorial in honor of the participants of the Second World War and the people of Leningrad who survived the years of the Nazi blockade.
We would like to express the hope that under your leadership, Jerusalem will achieve a breakthrough in both economic and social spheres, in the development of high-tech industries, and in urban infrastructure. Ahead of us are many years of well-being and prosperity.

Respectfully,
President of the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress Mikhail Mirilashvili
Chairman of the Board of the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress Aaron Frenkel
CEO of the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress  Dr. Haim Ben-Yakov

The Euro-Asian Jewish Congress congratulates Mr. Salito Malca on his election as a president of the Jewish Association of the Philippines and wishes him success in the realization of his ideas on the new responsible position for the benefit and prosperity of Jewish community.

The community center of the Jewish Association of the Philippines is located in the heart of Metro Manila. It is the only Synagogue in the Philippines. It is Sephardic but there are lots of members that come from different backgrounds and levels of observance.

To learn more about the Jewish community of the Philippines, visit the website.

The grand opening of the Foundation for social and cultural projects development “Euro-Asian Jewish Congress” in Russia took placing Moscow on October 28th.

The opening began with a moment of silence for the victims killed during the heinous act of terror at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh (USA). The EAJC leadership and guests expressed condolences to the families and friends of the victims and outrage against this act of terror and antisemitism.

Combating antisemitism and xenophobia is one of the most important objectives of the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress. In the beginning of the opening ceremony EAJC President Mr. Mirilashvili expressed his gratitude to the Russian leaders for the uncompromising condemnation of antisemitism that allows the Jewish communities and organizations to carry out activities freely. “We remember that it was not always like this. But today, Russia can be an example for combating antisemitism. We hope that no geopolitical issues will change this approach,” – said the head of EAJC.

According to the EAJC President, over the past two decades there has been a significant change in the international status of Russian-speaking Jews. “We were able to move from the periphery to one of the central places in the Jewish world,” – noted Mikhail Mirilashvili.

The meeting was welcomed by the Executive Vice-President of the World Jewish Congress (WJC) Robert Singer, who also spoke on behalf of the WJC President Ronald S. Lauder while Mr. Lauder was in Pittsburgh. Among the speakers were Ambassador of Israel to the Russian Federation Harry Koren, Chairman of the EAJC and WJC Vice-President Aaron Frenkel.

One of the priorities of the Foundation ‘EAJC’ in Russia is to educate the younger generations. The Chief Rabbi of Russia, Berl Lazar, also spoke about this matter: “Raising children has always been the main goal of our people. On the former Soviet Union territory there are many communities that are unable to support educational programs themselves. And I am glad that the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress takes on this task too.”

CEO of the EAJC Dr. Haim Ben-Yakov spoke about the launch of Sunday Schools network in the Euro-Asian region, where Jewish youth will be able to study traditions, culture and history. In addition, within the framework of Jewish Diplomacy Corps, which also began its work in Euro-Asian region, EAJC plans to develop dialogue with civil societies, invite journalists to Israel in order to show and tell the truth about the Jewish culture, overcome prejudices.

Russia plays a special role in the EAJC activities. It houses the largest Jewish community in the Euro-Asian region. According to EAJC First Vice-President Teimuraz Khikhinashvili, the EAJC regularly supports such major projects in Russia as Hillel and Limmud. Last year the EAJC concluded a number of important cooperation agreements. Among those are agreements with the Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia (FCJR), the Israel-Russia Business Council and the Republic of Tatarstan within the framework of the Jewish Music Festival in Kazan.

Bella Waldberg, CEO of the newly-established Foundation ‘EAJC’ in Russia, spoke about other projects and objectives of the Foundation. Among those are:

• Support of ‘The Memory of the People’ festival organized by the EAJC together with the Union of Jewish Students and dedicated to  preserving the memory of the Second World War and the Holocaust tragedy
• Support of the Pechersky Foundation to promote and expand the international presentation of the Oscar nominated movie “Sobibor”
• Establishment of the Center for Jewish Law that opens this year at the Moscow State University
• Support of the Annual International Conference on Jewish Studies – a large-scale event in the world of academic Judaica
• Publication of documents on Soviet-Israeli relations in the 1954-1967 period – a completely new project, supported on intergovernmental level in Russia and Israel
• Support of the organizations of Former Prisoners of Fascism
• Support of the publication of “The Book People in the Book World” magazine (detailed descriptions of Russian-language books on Judaism, Jewish philosophy, history and tradition)
• Support of the Russian Union of Jewish Students
• Participation in the Kesher project, aimed to improve the status of women and development of their leadership potential.

Next year, the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress Foundation plans to strengthen its activities in Russia and welcomes new partners.