BAKU, Azerbaijan – A delegation representing the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations of the USA visited Baku at the invitation of Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev. The delegation included more than 80 Jewish leaders, who were welcomed at the Ohr Avner Chabad School in Baku by Rabbi Avraham Berkowitz, the Executive Director of the Federation of Jewish Communities of the CIS, and Rabbi Meir Bruk, the Chief Ashkenazi Rabbi of Azerbaijan and Director of the Ohr Avner Chabad Educational Complex.
Headed by Chairman Harold Tanner and his deputy Malcolm Hoenlein, the delegation arrived on February 10th. During their stay, the guests have met members of the Jewish community in Azerbaijan and visited local Synagogues and Jewish organizations. Members of the delegation discussed numerous issues with local leaders, including the dynamic changes in the FSU countries, their influence on the life of the Jewish community, and the living conditions for Jews.
On Friday, the guests visited the city's Ohr Avner Chabad Jewish Educational Complex, where they enjoyed a tour of the premises and sat in on a few classes. At lunch, the guests were addressed by Rabbi Avraham Berkowitz who related the remarkable story of the opening of the school that became possible after a meeting between the late President of Azerbaijan Heidar Aliev and Lev Leviev who is the sponsor of the school and the Ohr Avner Chabad school network.
The Jewish Educational Complex is attended by over 390 youngsters, including more than 290 schoolchildren and about 100 kindergarteners. "The successful development of the Jewish Educational Complex has resulted in the fourfold growth of its student body in less than three years of operation. This would have been impossible to achieve without the support of leaders of the Chabad Lubavitch Movement, the Ohr Avner Foundation headed by Mr. Lev Leviev and Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev," explained Rabbi Bruk.
The Conference of Presidents delegates then presented Chabad emissaries in Azerbaijan, including Mrs. and Rabbi Meir Bruk and Mrs. and Rabbi Mati Lewis of Baku and Mrs. and Rabbi Mendel Leichter of Sumgait with a gift of recognition for their contribution and efforts in the developing of Jewish life in the region. A message of gratitude was also given to the Rohr family foundation for their continued support to Chabad in Azerbaijan and the CIS.
During their stay in Baku, the American Jewish leaders also met with Azerbaijani officials and public figures, including Foreign Affairs Minister Elmar Mamedyarov and the Chairman of the Department of Caucasus Muslims, Sheikhulislam Hadji Allahshukur Pashazade. The visitors also met with Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev, as well as Israeli Ambassador Arthur Lenk and USA Ambassador Rino Harnish.
Apart from visiting the country's capital, the guests also had the opportunity to see ancient Jewish settlements in the Kuba Region, where Mountain Jews reside for the last three hundred years and to meet with leaders of these respective Jewish communities including Rabbi Yonah Yakubov who was recently posted to Kuba as the Chabad Lubavitch representative.
The local Ashkenazi Jewish Community and Chabad Rabbis organized the guests' accommodation and kosher meals while in Azerbaijan. Upon leaving the country, the delegation have graciously donated about 100 kg of Kosher food, including dairy and meat products, cookies and sweets to Baku Jewish day school which the guests brought with them on a specially chartered plane from Israel.
Afterwards, the delegation will depart for Jerusalem to partake in the Annual Conference of Presidents of Israel's Leadership Mission, which will take place from February 14th through 18th.
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