Rabbi Marc Schneier received Hanukah gifts from Azerbaijan

FFEU President Rabbi Marc Schneier was invited by the Republic of Azerbaijan, a country that hosts 30,000 Jews, the largest Jewish community in the Muslim world, for a series of meetings with top government officials and religious leaders, Hanukkah receptions, and to speak at a new peace and heritage global initiative launched by the Ministry of Culture of Azerbaijan, United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) and the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO).

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev hosted Rabbi Schneier at the Presidential Palace in Baku. President Aliyev entrusted the Rabbi Schneier with Historic Hanukkah Gifts and proclamations for the betterment of the Azerbaijan Jewish community, the State of Israel and the world Jewry, namely:

1. President Aliyev announced Azerbaijan’s first participation in International Holocaust Remembrance Day on Jan, 27 2022,
2. He committed to funding the growing Jewish School in Baku – Chabad Ohr Avner – as per the previous meeting he had in February with Rabbi Schneier who requested then his support, on behalf of the Chief Rabbi of Azerbaijan. President Aliyev also pledged his ongoing financial support for the school. His noble gesture was another demonstration of the values of tolerance, interfaith and interreligious respect and cooperation that are deeply rooted in Azerbaijan’s society,
3. Azerbaijan’s new Trade and Tourism office in Tel Aviv was announced as “just the first step” in the strengthening of the Israeli-Azerbaijani relations.