THE GERMAN CITY THANKED LEADING RABBIS AND CONTINENTAL JEWS FOR THE UNITY OF EUROPE.

By AFP and TOI STAFF

Chief Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt poses for the media while rabbis from across Europe attend the 32nd General Convention in Munich, Germany, May 30, 2022. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

To'send that signal... there must be no place for antisemitism in Europe,' Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt and the European Jewish community were given the 2024 Charlemagne Prize in Aachen.

Berlin—On Friday, the German city of Aachen announced that it would award the 2024 Charlemagne Prize to Europe's leading rabbis and Jews in the wake of a Hamas-led onslaught on southern Israel and the ensuing war in Gaza.

The board of directors stated that Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt and the "Jewish community in Europe" would be rewarded for their efforts to encourage European unity.

They stated that they intended to "send that signal... there should be no place for antisemitism in Europe. They stated that Jewish life was "an important part of the history and present of Europe."

The convention was held in Munich, Germany, on May 30, 2022. After the Hamas-led onslaught in southern Israel and the subsequent war in Gaza, antisemitism in Germany increased on Friday. The city of Aachen announced that it will award the 2024 Charlemagne Prize to Europe's leading rabbis and Jews.

The board of directors stated that Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt and the "Jewish community in Europe" would be rewarded for their efforts to encourage European unity.

They stated that they intended to "send that signal... there should be no place for antisemitism in Europe. They stated that Jewish life was "an important part of the history and present of Europe."

Goldschmidt has called for peace in Ukraine and Gaza, and in November he led a delegation of European Rabbis to meet Pope Francis at the Vatican to talk about antisemitism in Europe and the war between Israel and Hamas.

Goldschmidt, 60, served as Rabbi of Moscow from 1993 to March 2022, but after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, he went into exile. He was considered by Moscow a" foreign agent" after leaving Russia.

He was very important for establishing the social and political structure for the Jewish community in Russia after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Since 2011, he has served as president of the Conference of European Rabbis (CER).

Pinchas Goldschmidt, the president of the Conference of European Rabbis, affixes a mezuzah to the doorframe of the Centre for Jewish Life in Munich, Germany on September 19, 2023. (CER)

Goldschmidt, who was born in Switzerland, studied and worked in Israel and the United States before moving to Russia in 1989. After receiving requests for assistance from several Jewish organizations working with Soviet Jews to revive Jewish religious life after 70 years of communist repression, he relocated to Russia.

Goldschmidt stated that he was "proud to be on the right side of history and join the list of those who oppose this terrible war that has claimed hundreds of thousands of lives" regarding the conflict in Ukraine.

In addition, he called on Russian Jews to leave the country because he feared that they would be scapegoated due to national problems as the war in Ukraine continued.

In November, the Charlemagne Prize Council stated about the war in Gaza that the CER supports peace and the right of everyone to self-determination.

Goldschmidt stated that the CER expected the civilian population to suffer as little as possible from the war and that Gaza should be led by a Palestinian leader with the support of the community of Arab states.

Since 1950, the Charlemagne Prize has been awarded to individuals or organizations for outstanding services to Europe and the unification of Europe. This year's award appears to illustrate the German government's commitment to fighting antisemitism, which has risen sharply in the wake of the Israeli-Hamas war.

Pope Francis and French President Emmanuel Macron were among the previous recipients of Charlemagne's award.

The previous year, the award was presented to the Ukrainian people as well as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

The prize will be awarded in May in Aachen in a ceremony.

News Sources: https://www.timesofisrael.com/german-city-awards-european-unity-prize-to-leading-rabbi-and-continents-jewry/