Chief Rabbi blasts world religious leaders for not condemning terrorism
“It is forbidden for us to be silent, silence is tantamount to identifying with terror.”
By JEREMY SHARONUpdated: OCTOBER 11, 2018 10:54Rabbi Yosef Yitzhak addresses a panel of world religious leaders in Astana, Kazakhstan.(photo credit: CHIEF RABBINATE)Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef castigated world religious leaders on Wednesday for failing to condemn terror attacks against Israel, saying that failure to do so was akin to identifying with terrorism.Yosef was speaking at the Congress of the Leaders of World and Traditional Religions currently taking place in Astana, Kazakhstan, an initiative of Kazakhstan’s autocratic leader President Nursultan Nazarbayev.Also present at the event was Grand Imam of al-Azhar Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb, one of the most senior authorities in the world for Sunnis, Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem Theophilos III, Cardinal Francesco Coccopalmerio, a former senior Vatican official, as well as other Muslim and Christian leaders and those from Hindu, Taoist and Zoroastrian faiths.“When there are terror attacks, our voice as spiritual leaders must be heard strongly and proudly,” said Yosef to the assembled religious leaders at the summit.“It is forbidden for us to be silent, silence is tantamount to identifying with terror,” he declared.Yosef also spoke about the importance of different peoples listening to what each other have to say and that failure to do so breeds conflict.“The inability to listen to the other side has instigated world wars throughout the generations,” said the chief rabbi. “It seems that it is not just words that can kill but also the failure to listen to the words [spoken] which can kill. We have a responsibility to serve as an example to our peoples to open our ears and listen.”Yosef concluded his speech with a prayer from Jewish liturgy, “May He who makes peace from on high make peace for us and all of Israel.”Yosef and his colleague Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi David Lau arrived in Kazakhstan on Tuesday night and were greeted by members of the local Jewish community, including Kazakhstan Chief Rabbi Yeshaya Cohen, as well as Israel’s ambassador to the country Liat Vekselman, Kazakh ambassador to Israel Doulat Kuanyshev, chairman of the US Commission for the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad, Paul Packer, and Kazakh-Israeli businessman and billionaire Alexander Mashkevitch.Speaking to those who had gathered to greet him Tuesday night, the chief rabbi said that, “spiritual communism has yet to end” has been expressed in Kazakhstan by “awful assimilation,” but said that “a little light can push away much darkness and save many souls.”
