Pinchas Goldschmidt (born 21 July 1963, Zurich

Zürich

Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is located in central Switzerland at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich...

) is the Chief Rabbi

Chief Rabbi

Chief Rabbi is a title given in several countries to the recognized religious leader of that country's Jewish community, or to a rabbinic leader appointed by the local secular authorities...

 of Moscow, Russia since 1993

Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt is the spiritual leader of the Moscow Choral Synagogue

Moscow Choral Synagogue

The Moscow Choral Synagogue is the main synagogue in Russia and in the former Soviet Union. It is located in central Basmanny District at 10, Bolshoy Spasogolinischevsky Lane, close to Kitai-Gorod Metro station. Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt is the spiritual head of this Synagogue.-History:The...

, the head of the rabbinnical court of the CIS

CIS

CIS usually refers to the Commonwealth of Independent States, a modern political entity consisting of eleven former Soviet Union republics.The acronym CIS may also refer to:-Organizations:...

, and is an officer of the Russian Jewish Congress

Russian Jewish Congress

The Russian Jewish Congress is a non-profit charitable fund and the largest secular organisation of Russian Jews. It was established in 1996 by the initiative group of the Jewish businessmen, active workers and religious figures for revival of the Jewish life in Russia...

 (RJC).
Goldschmidt represents the Russian Jewish community politically as well.

Biography

Pinchas Goldschmidt is the Swiss-born chief rabbi of Moscow. He the spiritual leader of the central synagogue of Moscow, and heads the rabbinical court of the CIS. In 1990 he created the guidelines in conjunction with the Interior Ministry of Israel to reconfirm Jews who have hidden their Jewish identity during Soviet times.

Goldschmidt played a major role in founding and developing communal structures from colleges, day schools and kindergartens, soup kitchens and rabbinical schools, to political umbrella structures, such as the Russian Jewish Congress and the Congress of Jewish Religious Organizations of Russia (KEROOR).

Goldschmidt represents the Russian Jewish community politically. He published op-ed’s in the international press pertaining to the issues of the day. He also addressed during the course of the years, the US Senate, the EU Parliament, The Council of Europe, The Israeli Knesset, Prime Minister Netanyahu’s – “Ne’eman-Commission”, Oxford University, OSCE Berlin Conference on anti-Semitism, and Harvard University, discussing the state of the Jewish Community, and the threats of anti-Semitism.

In January 2005, five hundred people, including newspaper editors, public intellectuals and 19 Duma

Duma

A Duma is any of various representative assemblies in modern Russia and Russian history. The State Duma in the Russian Empire and Russian Federation corresponds to the lower house of the parliament. Simply it is a form of Russian governmental institution, that was formed during the reign of the...

 deputies published an appeal to the prosecutor-general of Russia. The petitioners called for the closure of Jewish organized life in Russia. A subsequent television call-in show, during which 100,000 people phoned in, revealed that 54% of the participants supported the idea of banning all Jewish organizations in Russia. Goldschmidt wrote a detailed response to all the accusations and addressed the letter to Dmitriy Rogozin, leader of the nationalist Rodina (Motherland) party, who, after receiving Goldschmidt’s letter, apologized and distanced himself from the petition.

Goldschmidt was deported from Russia during September 2005, and was allowed to return to his community after three month, only after an international campaign. He takes an active part in interfaith dialogue gatherings with Christians and Muslims in New York, Paris, Astana, Seville and Moscow.

He also leads the Conference of European Rabbis, the rabbinical umbrella group of Europe (uniting four hundred rabbis from Dublin to Khabarovsk) as the chairman of the Standing Committee.

Goldschmidt besides his rabbinical ordination possesses a M.A. from Ner Israel Rabbinical College, as well as a M.S. from Johns Hopkins University

Johns Hopkins University

The Johns Hopkins University, commonly referred to as Johns Hopkins, JHU, or simply Hopkins, is a private research university based in Baltimore, Maryland, United States...

.
He also studied at Ponevezh Yeshiva

Ponevezh yeshiva

Ponevezh Yeshiva, often pronounced Ponevitch Yeshiva, is a world renowned yeshiva located in Bnei Brak, Israel. Donated by Henry Krausher, it was originally established in the town of Panevėžys, Lithuania...

, (1979–1981), Telshe Yeshiva, Chicago, Il

Telshe yeshiva (Chicago)

Telshe Yeshiva is a Yeshiva located in Chicago, Illinois, in the United States....

 (1981–1982), Shevet Umechokek Institute for Rabbinical Judges, (1985–1986) and Harry Fischel Institute for Rabbinical Judges, Jerusalem, Israel (1986–1987). He authored articles on issues of Jewish law regarding post-Soviet Jewry and has published a collection of responsas with a compilation of Russian Jewish names "Zikaron Basefer", (Moscow 1996).

Rabbi Goldschmidt has been awarded Certification as candidate for the Position
of Chief Rabbi in Israel or in one of the cities in Israel by the Council of the Chief Rabbinate of Israel in the year 2002. Rabbi Goldschmidt is married and has seven children.

In the spring of 2009, Goldschmidt was Visiting Scholar at the Davis Center in Harvard.

http://www.vosizneias.com/86394/2011/06/28/london-rabbi-pinchas-goldschmidt-elected-president-of-the-conference-of-european-rabbis/Since July 2011, Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt, Chief Rabbi and Av Beit Din of Moscow, is the new president of the Conference of European Rabbis. Rabbi Goldschmidt was elected by the CER’s Standing Committee meeting in London and succeeds the former chief rabbi of France (1987–2009), Joseph Hayim Sitruk, who had held the post since 1999. Only the fourth president of the CER in its 54-year history, Rabbi Goldschmidt is the first to hold the post from outside Western Europe.]

Publications

Rabbinical Halacha work (Hebrew)

Sridim 23 "Psak-Din bItim shota" Bi-polar manic depressive status according to Halacha. Publication of the Conference of European Rabbis, 2006

Sridim 22 "Amatla bechezkat kehunah" Determination of priestly status in a post
Soviet context. Publication of the Conference of European Rabbis, 2005

Sridim 21 " Av Veem shel Ben Noach" the obligation of a convert to honor his/her parent. Publication of the Conference of European Rabbis, 2003


Sridim 20 "Srara Verabbanut L'or Halacha" Interference of state power in rasbbinic appointments. Publication of the Conference of the European Rabbis, 2002

"Zikaron Basefer" Responsa, collection of 60 responsas regarding Jewish life in post communist Russia, Moscow. Published in Jerusalem, Israel, 1995
"Halachic Essay on Aliya to Israel on Shabbath" Hama'ayan Publishers Jerusalem, Israel 1994
"Guide to the Jewish Burial Societies of the CIS in Russian" Moscow, Russia 1994
"Shemot Gittin" Compilation and analysis of Russian names used by Jews in the Soviet Union for use in the "Bill of Divorce" (Get)- Critical analysis of earlier publications on this subject Moriah Jerusalem, Israel, 1994

Halachic Essay on the permissibility of the use of the Subway System in Moscow during the Sabbath and the holidays Beth Israel V'Aharon Jerusalem, Israel, 1994
Analysis of divorce of intermarried couples in Halacha "Kol Hatora" London, United Kingdom 1992
Responsa reg : Assistance to Soviet Jews when conflicting with personal obligations "Zohar Barkai" Publication of "Barkai" – Institutions Nazareth Illith, Israel,1988
Conceptual Analysis of the terms "Yeled" and "Naar" in the Scriptures "Zohar Barkai" Publication of "Barkai" – Institutions Nazareth Illith, Israel, 1988
Demography of the Jewish people in relation to the commandments of the Tora "Nitsanei Arets" Publication of the Universal Yeshiva of Rabbi A.I.Kook Jerusalem, Israel, 1986

"Legal contracts of marriage " "Or Haner", Ner Israel Rabbinnical College Baltimore, MD, 1985

On Jewish Affairs
"Jews and Catholics must work together" a shorter version of a paper presented at the meeting of Cardinals and Rabbis in New York February 2005 and printed in the WJC publication on inter religious dialogue, International Herald Tribune Op-ed, 1 September 2005
"Jews do not destroy synagogues". Op-ed regarding the idea of the pre emptive destruction of Gaza's synagogues by the IDF (The Israeli government afterwards canceled the plan), Haaretz, 12 September 2005
"Rabbinical Morality in immoral circumstances". On morality of Israel's policies during the Intifadah, Jerusalem Post. Op-ed, 9 September 2002
"Antisemitism in Russia" – paper presented to the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee (Helsinki commission) while testifying, 1999
Editor in chief "Yevreiskaya Zhizn"-Monthly bulletin of the Union of the Jewish Communities in the NIS, Moscow, 1993
Jewish CIS Information Guide to all Jewish communities and institutions in the Former Soviet Union, Moscow, 1993
Annual Report NIS - 1993
Report on the activities in the Jewish communities of the Former Soviet Union, Moscow, (quoted in the New York Times 6 Feb 1994), 1993
Series of articles on the Jewish festivals from a Soviet Jewish perspective Published in the "Yevreiskaya Gazetta" Moscow, 1993
Annual Report CIS, 1992
Report on the activities of the Jewish
communities in the Commonwealth of Independent States Moscow, 1992
"Reform Or Return". Essay on the historical relationship between Russian Jewry and the Western Reform movement "Yevreiskaya Gazetta" September issue, Moscow, 1991

External links

• http://www.ncsj.org/AuxPages/092805Goldschmidt.shtml
• http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1P1-29224909.html
• http://reportsbetsygidwitz.com/Visit_to_Jewish_Institutions_in_Moscow_NovDec_1997_06.html
• http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0242304/