(Thursday, 23rd June 2011) – A conference organized by the Rabbinical Centre of Europe (RCE) sent a clear message to European politicians that passing kosher labeling laws will be a devastating blow for Jews on the continent.
The event titled “˜Is Multiculturalism Sustainable in Twenty-First Century Europe?’ was addressed by Rabbi Yonah Metzger, Chief Rabbi of Israel, Israel’s Minister of Religious Affairs, Yaakov Margi and Jan Truszczynski, Director General for Education and Culture at the European Commission. The conference was held under the patronage of Jerzy Buzek, President of the European Parliament.
Rabbi Metzger told the conference that the European Union should remove the amendment from the upcoming vote on food labelling laws. “The European Parliament has to be especially tolerant on this issue and to remove from its agenda the labeling amendment that will harm Jewish slaughter, the most merciful way to slaughter an animal,” Metzger said.
Minister Margi said that these types of laws are reminiscent of darker times. “You should remember that among the first anti-Semitic laws passed by the Nazis was a law against shechita,” Margi said.
The draft amendment to the legislation requires all meat products derived from animals slaughtered according to Jewish custom to be labeled as “meat from slaughter without stunning”. It is feared that the labeling will stigmatize many against buying kosher meat, especially in the regular marketplace which accounts for over half of all kosher meat sales, this will massively increase kosher food prices, placing them out of the budget for many people. The vote is expected to take place during July.
Rabbi Asher Gold, Spokesperson for the RCE, explained the worries of many observant Jews. “While the amendment to the food labeling laws may appear innocuous, in fact, it could prove a threat to European Jewry and our millennia-old customs,” Rabbi Gold said. “This gathering of Jews representing communities across Europe in the parliament sends a clear message to our elected officials that this is immoral and should not pass.”
Among other issues that were discussed at the conference was the future of European Jewry as a result of the rise of antisemitism, especially from Moslem extremists.
Rabbi Metzger talked about his initiative to establish an international religious institution that will unite all the religious leaders throughout the world like the UN, in the hope that it will act to settle inter-religious disputes.
At the end of the conference, the Rabbinical Centre of Europe (RCE) began writing a Torah scroll that will be for the use of Jewish Members of the European Parliament, visitors and other dignitaries. The Torah received its first letters from Rabbi Metzger.
The inaugural inscription, which also involved MEP’s writing letters in the Torah with the help of a trained Jewish scribe, was dedicated to European Jewry and its leaders.
The Torah scroll will be housed at the European Jewish building which is situated next to the European Parliament in Brussels.
The event also marked the tenth anniversary since the founding of the RCE. The anniversary of the Rabbinical Centre of Europe, an organization representing over 700 European religious leaders dedicated to meeting the needs of Jewish communities in Europe, is said to be at a time of increasing worry for European Jewry.
“There is cause for alarm and it is incumbent on European rabbis to be at the forefront of all the battles of the Jewish community,” Rabbi Gold said. “The debate surrounding multiculturalism in Europe is perhaps a crisis of identity on the continent, as religious and identifiable Jews; rabbis need to make their voices heard both within the community and in wider society on these vital issues.”
“I believe the fact that we are writing a Torah on behalf of all the Jews of Europe sends a clear message to those who want to proscribe certain Jewish customs that the Jewish People, our traditions and history, are here to stay.”