Conference of European Rabbis Annual Review 2017-2018 (5777-5778) 4 www.rabbiscer.org History The CER was founded on the initiative of British Chief Rabbi Sir Israel Brodie, in order to revive the vanquished Jewish communities on the European mainland. He was supported by the Chief Rabbi of France, Jacob Kaplan, Chief Rabbi of Amsterdam, Aharon Schister, and the British Sephardic spiritual leader, Hacham Gaon. The first conference took place in 1957 in Amsterdam. As a result of the CER’s union with the rabbinates of the stronger western Eurpoean Orthodox communities, the vast majority of mainstream communities throughout the continent retained Orthodox affiliation and rabbinical leadership (with the exception of Hungary and Sweden, where non-Orthodox groups had a strong prior presence). Even as some major Western European communities were deliberating over whether to join non-Orthodox movements after the War, the strong rabbinical alliance was successful in ensuring an Orthodox rabbinate and securing the continuity of the Orthodox rite even where the larger part of the membership had unfortunately become secularized. ( F R O M R I G H T T O L E F T ) F I R S T P R E S I D E N T O F T H E C E R S I R I S R A E L B R O D I E S E C O N D P R E S I D E N T O F T H E C E R H A R A V L O R D I M M A N U E L J A K O B O V I T S F I R S T D I R E C T O R O F T H E C E R R A B B I M O S H E R O S E