Mazal Tov: Hamburg Has a Rabbi
Chabad RabbiShlomo Bistritzkywas inaugurated Monday, January 16, as the new Chief Rabbi of Hamburg, the second to largest city in Germany, after the position has been vacant for 3 years.
The ceremony at the Hohe Weide Synagogue was attended by hundreds of members of the local Jewish community andBernard Effertz, chairman of the board of the Hamburg Jewish Community.
A rabbinical delegation included Israel’s Chief RabbiYona Metzger, RabbiAryeh Goldbergof the Rabbinical Centre of Europe (RCE), Germany’s Head Shliach RabbiYisroel Diskinand other Shluchim.
Representing Lubavitch World Headquarters was RabbiMoshe Kotlarsky, Vice Chairman of Merkos L’inyonei Chinuch.
For the new rabbi, the position has “a double meaning” and inspires a great deal of emotion, Chabad.org reported.
Bistritzky’s grandfather, RabbiYehuda Leib Bistritskywho was present at the event, left his native Hamburg for New York in 1937.
He and his Frankfurt-born wife have been living in Jerusalem for the past 15 years. “We are proud that our grandchild reached such a position,” he said after hearing about the nomination in November 2011.
Shlomo Bistritzky’s father was the late RabbiLevi Bistritzky, Chief Rabbi of the city of Tzfas and a respected author and authority on halacha and kashrus.
