A rabbinical delegation of 21 Chabad-Lubavitch emissaries from 15 cities across Germany made history this week with a visit to the state parliament of North Rhine-Westphalia.
The delegates met with State President Eckhard Uhlenberg Tuesday to mark the 22nd anniversary of the opening of the country's first Chabad House.
During the course of their annual two-day conference, the delegation met with Uhlenberg to discuss Jewish communal affairs. “We all must strengthen Jewish life in our state,” Uhlenberg said, “and I am sure that we can, together.”
The state president was later presented with a silver menorah at a presidential reception by Rabbi Moshe Kotlarsky, vice chairman of Merkoz L'Inyonei Chinuch, the educational arm of Chabad-Lubavitch.
Kotlarsky praised the growth of Judaism in Germany in his remarks to Uhlenberg, calling it “remarkable” and an ongoing necessity.
“I was not privileged to know my grandparents,” Kotlarsky told Uhlenberg. “I didn't have uncles and aunts; everyone was murdered by the Nazis. But our focus is, and always has been, on the future. Our goal is to strengthen tradition and values.”
Rabbi Chaim Barkahn, director of the Rorh Chabad-Lubavitch Center in Dusseldorf later told Chabad.org the huge years-long financial support of the Rohr family had helped fuel the Jewish rebirth taking place throughout Germany.
He also noted there are 31,000 Jews living in the region, and said the state government has been extremely supportive. “The parliament's embrace of our group was powerful,” Barkahn said.