History was made in Montenegro on Thursday when the small Balkan country got its first permanent chief rabbi.
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Los Angeles-born Rabbi Ari Edelkopf, who is the Chabad emissary in Montenegro, has served as the de facto chief rabbi for the local Jewish community for the past two years. There are an estimated 500 Jewish families in the country.
At the ceremony, Edelkopf said: "Teaching Judaism is the greatest honor. The Jewish community in Montenegro is unique and I feel honored to be its rabbi. I want to thank my wife Hannah. Everything I have ever achieved as a rabbi is all in thanks to her and thanks to the Lubavitcher Rebbe, who once said: 'Everyone should share his or her knowledge with others. Even if you know one letter, share it.'"
Montenegro's President Milo Đukanović attended the ceremony, as did Israeli Minister for Religious Services Yitzhak Vaknin, General Director of the Rabbinical Centre of Europe and the European Jewish Association Menachem Margolin, and a host of other officials from Montenegro and Israel.
The event was part of the launch of the 7th annual Mahar ("Tomorrow") Conference for Balkan Jewry under the auspices of the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress, led by its President Mikhail Mirilashvili who is extremely devoted for the development of Jewish life in the Balkan, the World Jewish Congress, the Jewish National Fund (KKL-JNF) and the Joint Distribution Committee (JDC).
Mr. Chaim Bleckhman spoke on behalf of Euro-Asian Jewish Congress Mirilashvili and CEO Chaim Ben Yaakov.
