Conference of European Rabbis Annual Report 2016 64 Conference of European Rabbis Annual Review 2017-2018 (5777-5778) 64 www.rabbiscer.org A speech honouring European Commission Senior Vice President, Frans Timmermans. Distinguished and honoured guests. Our Rabbis teach us that we should always begin by thanking our hosts. In this vein, I would like to thank the Brussels Jewish community for their warmth and generosity in hosting this ceremony, in honour of two stalwart supporters of the Jewish community and a woman who has changed Holocaust memorial in her country. My role in this ceremony is to present the Jakobovits Prize of European Jewry to Commissioner Timmermans. President Tajani, Chief Rabbi Guigui will mark your contribution but let me say what a privilege it is for Europe’s Jewish communities to be honouring you. Ruta, we are incredibly proud to have you with us and to present you with the second Rabbi Moshe Rosen prize. The Conference of European Rabbis was established in 1956 by the chief rabbis of the major Western European countries. At that time, Europe’s Jews were no longer communities but waifs and strays, but survivors of the industrial destruction of thousands of our communities during the Shoah. Today, the CER is representative of more than 700 Rabbis from Dublin in the west to Vladivostok in the east and, Commissioner Timmermans, your influence through the European Commission has touched each and every one of us. Our communities face challenges that threaten our very existence, more than at any time since the Second World War. Antisemitism on the streets of Europe has reached unprecedented highs; the statistics are frightening and, on the internet, particularly through social media, the constant abuse members of the Jewish community receive is revolting and has uncovered a sinister undercurrent in society that many of us hoped was consigned to the past. Religious practice has also come under threat and we are pleased that Europe’s leaders continue to protect our rights. With thanks to the European Commission and the European Parliament, we are blessed with institutions that prioritise religion and protect religious rights. For example, the right to eat kosher food and the right to wear religious dress. It saddens me, that here in Belgium, for offensive reasons thinly masked by a ridiculous claim of animal welfare concern, two provinces have banned Shechita – Jewish religious slaughter – I hope that these bans will not last and that our rights will be reinstated, that wisdom Appendix will prevail and that the politicians who lead the assault on our freedoms will be exposed and that their claims that we do not regard animal welfare as a concern rubbished. I have spoken numerous times of the important role that the religious leadership must play in combating hate within our communities. We have the responsibility to remain alert to any sign of intolerance and prejudice, the seed from which antisemitism, Islamophobia, terrorism and racism grow, and leaders can never allow themselves to be complacent. Each time there is a threat to religious practice, our leaders must be forthright and take a stand. Commissioner Timmermans, you have been exemplar in reminding the world of this as you continue to stand up and be forthright about protecting religious freedom and practice. We must all learn from you. Commissioner Timmermans, it is thanks to you that in 2015, the European Union announced the establishment of an ombudsman focused solely on fighting antisemitism at a pan-European level. It is reassuring for Europe’s Jews that you promise that any antisemitic issue will ‘land on your desk immediately.’ Your words send a clear message to detractors, that protecting religious rights is a priority. Chief Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt’s speech at the Lord Jakobovits Prize of European Jewry, Brussels, 2018