“Our Torah is supposed to be a Torah of kindness and of truth,” said Rabbi Benjamin Goldschmidt of the Altneu Synagogue in Manhattan. “Rabbis are not only responsible to make sure that the food is kosher, but also to make sure that the people have food to eat. Rabbis are not only responsible to preach from the pulpit, but are obligated to live by the values which they preach.”
Goldschmidt’s remarks were made at The Jerusalem Post Conference held in New York on Monday, where he accepted a special award on behalf of his father, Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt, who served as Chief Rabbi of Moscow for 30 years. The senior Rabbi Goldschmidt was forced out by the Russian authorities for not supporting the Russian invasion of Ukraine and left Russia.
'There is a time to go to Israel'
“At great personal sacrifice, my father, together with the Milner Foundation, spent millions of dollars helping refugees from Ukraine throughout Europe,” said Goldschmidt. “In addition, he took a personal stance encouraging Jews in distress in Russia and told them that it was perhaps time to seek refuge elsewhere. There is a time to go to the State of Israel.”
"My father, together with the Milner Foundation, spent millions of dollars helping refugees from Ukraine throughout Europe. In addition, he took a personal stance encouraging Jews in distress in Russia and told them that it was perhaps time to seek refuge elsewhere. There is a time to go to the State of Israel."
Rabbi Benjamin Goldschmidt
He added that the only silver lining from the Russian invasion of Ukraine was what he termed “the incredible response of Jewish communities throughout the world, joining forces together to provide food and refuge for all the refugees coming out of Ukraine.”