Today the Jewish community of Moldova celebrated the inauguration of its newly elected Chief Rabbi, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Axelrod, chosen in an election of the country’s Jewish community representing all its institutions.
The inauguration was led by the Chief Rabbi of Israel, Rabbi Kalman Ber, who came to Chișinău for it — joined by chief rabbis and community leaders from across the Jewish world.
The chain:
Rabbi Yehuda Leib Tsirelson, Chief Rabbi of Bessarabia from 1908, killed in Chișinău in 1941.
Rabbi Zalman Abelsky, sent by the Lubavitcher Rebbe in 1989 under Soviet rule, who rebuilt Jewish life in Moldova.
Rabbi Menachem Mendel Axelrod, his grandson, inaugurated today.
Rabbi Ber told the hall: “From today, Chișinău will be remembered not for the Kishinev pogroms, but for Rabbi Axelrod.”
