Liberal Jews picket Paris synagogue hosting Jerusalem chief rabbi
Shlomo Amar lambasted for calling homosexuals ‘crazies’ and ‘obscene people,’ and saying a woman’s place is in the home
In a move that underlined growing divisions among French Jews, several dozen attended a demonstration protesting communal leaders’ welcoming of a deeply conservative Orthodox rabbi from Israel.
Approximately 40 Jewish protesters, some of them affiliated with Liberal congregations, showed up at the rally Tuesday outside the Buffault synagogue in Paris ahead of the arrival there of Shlomo Amar, a former chief rabbi of Israel and current chief rabbi of Jerusalem, with signs protesting what they said were misogynist and divisive statements he had made.
Amar has visited the French capital many times before. This was the first time that he was met by Jewish protesters, according to the La Croix daily.
Amar visited France as a guest of the Consistoire organization, a state-recognized framework that provides Orthodox Jewish communities with religious services in France. Earlier this month, Amar equated Reform Jews with Holocaust deniers in an address concerning demands by followers of Liberal Judaism for changes in the rules of worship at the Western Wall in Jerusalem.
Amar has also called homosexuals “crazies” and “obscene people,” and has said that women are made to care for children and provide for their families so that men may become “great sages” in studying the Torah.
“These words ostracize a significant part of the Jewish people,” Michael Amsellem, one of the protest’s organizers, wrote in a statement. Yet, he noted, Amar was “invited for a lecture titled ‘Unity and the Month of Elul.’”
Petit rassemblement devant la synagogue Buffault pour protester contre la venue du grand rabbin controversé Shlomo Amar pic.twitter.com/jQH5n7IDoi
— Benoît Fauchet (@BFAuchet) September 12, 2017
The protest rally also was promoted by Delphine Horvilleur, a female rabbi and editor of the Tenoua Jewish magazine. Tenoua released a banner reading “Misogyny, homophobia, hate and contempt: not in my synagogue” to promote the protest against Amar.
This was to show the “rejection” by some members of French Jewry, the world’s third largest with 500,000 members, with “the honor shown by communal representatives to a man that propagates scandalous statements, rife with homophobia and openly promotes hatred for whole sections of World Jewry,” a statement by Tenoua read.
Some of the protesters at the rally also carried signs reading: “For a New Consistoire, a Consistoire for All.”
The Consistoire defended Amar’s visit to France as “historic and successful,” citing the arrival of 400 guests to the first visit on Sept 10 by a presiding chief rabbi of Jerusalem to Lyon. The Consistorie was “honored to host” Amar both there for a gala ahead of Rosh Hashanah and in Paris, the Consistoire said in a statement.
