A delegation lead by Chief Rabbi A. Shayevitch of Russia and
Rabbi Aba Dunner, secretary general of the Conference of
European Rabbis, visited Kaliningrad last week. The
delegation visited the grave of Reb Yisroel Salanter on the
day of his yahrtzeit and recited Tehillim at
the vandalized grave, where the recently-dedicated tombstone
has already been badly damaged.
The delegation also met with the Governor of Kaliningrad
Oblast/Region Mr. Vladimir Yegorov, with the Mayor Jury
Savenko, with the President of the Parliament Vladimir
Nikitin, and with the Minister for Education Dr. Lazar
Fookson. The discussions dealt with the provision of further
facilities for the Jewish community. Ambassador Ronald
Lauder, who already provides the city with a Lauder
Kindergarten, is seeking to expand this facility to provide
Jewish education for the community. He sponsored the visit
although he was unable to join the delegation himself.
The CER also held a two day regional conference of "northern"
rabbis in Helsinki last week. It was chaired by Chief Rabbi
of Norway Rabbi M Edelmann and attended by rabbis from
Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Latvia, Estonia and Finland.
The Executive Director of the CER came from Jerusalem as well
as Dayan Ch. Ehrentreu of London. The conference theme was
"The status of the rabbinate in our communities - a look into
the future."
Amongst the subjects covered were: problems experienced by
isolated Jewish communities, local kashrus and standards for
the production of kosher products, Jewish burials, the need
for more mikvaot and conversions.
Dayan Ehrentreu, in conjunction with Rabbi Edelmann, dealt
with some local halacha issues.
At the dinner in honor of the visiting delegation the
president of the community Gideon Bolotowsky highlighted the
fact that this was the first time since the war that such a
gathering had taken place in Helsinki. He stressed that such
visits helped to strengthen Jewish awareness within the
community and hoped that such visits would be repeated in the
not-too-distant future.
