Moscow’s chief rabbi elected new head of Conference of European Rabbis

The chief rabbi of Moscow, Pinchas Goldschmidt, has been named new president of the Conference of European Rabbis (CER), succeeding the former chief rabbi of France, Joseph Sitruk. Goldschmidt was elected as new head of the Orthodox rabbinical group at a meeting in London last week. He is only the fourth president in the organization's 54-year history. Goldschmidt, the father of seven children, said in a statement that he was honored by the chance to represent hundreds of rabbis across the continent: "The CER was at the forefront of the rebirth of the Jewish communities after the war and together with my colleagues, I was privileged to witness the miraculous rebirth of the communities of the former Soviet Union. May the Lord in his will grant me the strength to strengthen the Jewish community in Europe, rise to the challenges presented to us by the ever-changing world."

Goldschmidt was called to Moscow in 1989 by a coalition including the Soviet government, the local Jewish activist movement, the World Jewish Congress and the Israeli Chief Rabbinate. In Russia, he established the country's rabbinical court and worked together with Israel's Interior Ministry to reconfirm Jews who hid their Jewish identity during the Communist era. He has since played a major role in founding and developing communal structures from communal umbrella organizations, colleges, day schools and kindergartens to soup kitchens and rabbinical schools.

Born in Zurich, Switzerland in 1963, Goldschmidt studied at the Ponevezh and Telshe and Baltimore Yeshivas and has been a rabbi since 1987.