Dear Friends,

In this letter I wish to notify you of a special event that took place last week in , the World Conference of Diaspora Rabbis and Community Leaders, which is organized by the World Zionist Organization’s Center for Religious Affairs in the Diaspora.

The conference was extremely successful and included 130 participating rabbis from forty two countries, including: the United States, France, the United Kingdom, Holland, Switzerland, Greece, Norway, Spain, Portugal and Turkey.

This year was the thirteenth annual conference, which was held over three days at the Ramada hotel. The theme of this year’s conference was The Unity of the Jewish People during Times of Crisis. The first and third days of the conference were dedicated to theoretical debates, lectures and panel discussions with participants including rabbis from and the Diaspora, public figures and personalities from the fields of the humanities and research. These included, among others, the chief rabbis of Israel, Rabbi David Lau and Rabbi Yitzchak Yosef, Rabbi Yitzchak Guggenheim, of Paris, Rabbi Dr. Lenny Mantanky, President of the Rabbinical Council of America, Rabbi Dr. Shmuel Di Segni, Chief Rabbi of Rome, Neil Hendel, Justice of the Israel Supreme Court, the scholar Rabbi Dr. Dov Maimon and others. A special session was dedicated to the topic of The Challenges Facing the Jewish People in the Twenty First Century and included a panel comprised of Rabbi David Stav, Chief Rabbi of Shoham and chairman of the Tzohar organization, Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt, Chief Rabbi of Moscow and Ms. Adina Bar Shalom, a recipient of the Israel Prize, who spoke about the empowerment of women.

The conference’s main event was the session entitled Mothers and Challenges to Faith with the mothers of the three abducted boys, Ms. Rachel Frenkel, Ms. Bat Galim Shayer and Ms. Iris Yifrach. The evening was led by the journalist Ms. Sivan Rahav Meir. This compelling and fascinating evening brought out an additional two hundred guests from all walks of life who joined the participants of the conference. At the end of the evening a special plaque was given to each of the mothers.

The second day of the conference was dedicated to a tour of southern Israel as a display of solidarity with the residents of the settlements bordering the Gaza Strip. The first half of the day focused on the issue of the Shmitah (Sabbatical) year, and the rabbis visited the Institute for and the Land of Israel, heard a halachic survey concerning the laws of Shmitah, and then toured the greenhouses to a first-hand perspective on agricultural produce during the Shmitah year. The second half of the day was dedicated to a display of solidarity with the residents of the region. The rabbis heard a survey on the security situation from the commanding officer of the IDF’s Gaza Division, including a recount of the battles that took place in the area during the past summer, and then visited Kibbutz Alumim, where they participated in discussions with the members of the kibbutz and then in a joint dinner. On the third day the conference hosted General Gershon Hakohen, who surveyed the security situation, and then Chief Rabbi Yitzchak Yosef, who conducted a question and answer session with the rabbis. The conference ended with an exhibition that included presentations by various organizations and institutions, including the Tzomet Institute, the Puah Institute and the Talmudic Encyclopedia.

The participants were extremely satisfied with the conference, both in terms of the quality of the lectures and the discussions as well as its organizational and material aspects, as evidenced by the responses and comments we received in the wake of the conference.

Sincerely

Rabbi Yehiel Wasserman Director

רח' המלך ג'ורג' 84 ת.ד. 29 ירושלים King George St. P.O.B 92 Jerusalem 91000 20999 48 טל: 99-2999842029 פקס: Tel: 972-2-6202459/6202460 Fax:972-2-6202792 99–2999029 e-mail : [email protected]