An increased Jewish presence in the spiritual, educational and communal lives of French Jewry is the only appropriate response to rising anti-Semitism and terror, say Chabad-Lubavitch leaders in Paris. To that end, 15 new emissaries have been appointed within the last year to serve in and around the city.
But security was only a small part of the conversations at the annual Paris regional kinus (convention) late last month, as more than 150 shluchim gathered to address the concerns of their city, and to discuss common goals and positive approaches regarding their work in it.
The daylong event was dedicated to Rabbi Shmuel “Moulé” Azimov, the former leader of the Chabad community in Paris who passed away in November after serving as head shaliach there for more than 40 years. He has long been credited with jump-starting a revival of Jewish life and institutions in France.
Similar gatherings for women who serve as emissaries and their children were held earlier this year.
This year’s annual meeting came in the midst of a difficult time for the estimated 300,000 Jews in the “City of Light,” which has seen days of real darkness. According to the “2014 Report on Anti-Semitism in France” by the Service de Protection de la Communauté Juive, the Jewish protection service there, 851 anti-Semitic attacks were committed in 2014—nearly double the 423 recorded incidents in 2013.
Those numbers do not include the terror attack in January, in which four Jews were killed when a gunman took hostages at the Hyper Cacher supermarket in Paris on a Friday afternoon. In response to these incidents, the French government has increased security around Jewish schools and institutions, and is expected to keep the security measures in place next year as well.
‘Grow in Spiritual Life’
Organizers focused on the positives—for example, how much the emissaries have accomplished in the last year, and how they’ve grown in numbers and institutions, with several new Chabad Houses and day-care centers opening recently in Paris and its immediate suburbs.
“The French community is the third-largest Jewish community in the world, and everyone here is eager for programs and very encouraging,” said Rabbi Mendy Azimov, director of Beth Loubavitch Paris 16, who coordinated this year’s Kinus with his brother, Rabbi Levi Yitzchak Azimov, director of Beth Loubavitch of Neuilly. “There is a huge demand, and so the main goal of this year’s Kinus was about an interesting point the Rebbe [Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, of righteous memory] made 30 years ago—that one shaliach should bring another shaliach up under him, and that shaliach should bring another.”
He also noted that this first men’s gathering without his father “was not easy.”
“It was very difficult, but this is what we have to do. We have to move on,” said the younger Rabbi Azimov. “I saw people very motivated to continue what he started, and we should be able to continue in a good way.”
The fruits of the elder Azimov’s work, which were readily apparent in the form of all the people who had gathered there on Sunday, April 26, were on display in full measure. A PowerPoint presentation laid out many discussions that took place between him and the Rebbe over the years regarding Chabad in Paris and other topics.
“One of the points the Rebbe made to my father was when you take care of people, you shouldn’t abandon them,” explained Rabbi Azimov. “The Rebbe said that when the captain has the boat in middle of water, he doesn’t let it go; it’s the same thing for shluchim. When you take care of people and help them grow in spiritual life, you can’t abandon them in the middle—you have to make sure to move on.”
While the initial conversations took place decades ago, they continue to resonate with the emissaries. In fact, that session was a standout program for Rabbi Mendy Lackhar, who last year was appointed an emissary to the 13th arrondissement in Paris, an area with several universities and office complexes.
“I found that session particularly inspiring,” he said. “Realizing how much the Rebbe wanted from his shluchim, on a personal level (with specific guidance regarding the learning of the shaliach, and the exact amount of time and subjects) as well as on an operational level (what can be done, what should be done and what shouldn’t be done), as a young new shaliach, seeing this really meant a lot.”
‘A Lot of Energy’
Rabbi Yehuda Krinsky, chairman of Merkos L’Inyonei Chinuch, the educational arm of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement, flew in from New York for the event and served as the guest speaker. He told a story about how the Rebbe sent him to the Israeli town of Kfar Chabad nearly 60 years ago after a terror attack there took the lives of five students and their teacher. The goal was to provide encouragement to the students who remained.
According to Azimov, Rabbi Krinsky explained that his visit to Paris was of a similar theme—to offer inspiration and reinforcement. “But he said that instead of bringing encouragement, he came out encouraged” by everything he had seen, including the Beth Hanna girls high school—part of the larger school established by the elder Rabbi Azimov—which was recently ranked the No. 1 high school in France by Le Parisien daily newspaper.
The school served as the location of this year’s kinus. Rabbi Krinsky toured the entire facility and got the chance to meet students in several classes.
All in all, concluded Rabbi Azimov, the gathering was “very, very motivational.”
“It gives us a lot of energy,” he said, adding that “we hope for the best. We hope that today the demand proves more than what we had to offer before. The Jewish people are very demanding [in the best of ways regarding what they want from Judaism], and the more we are able to do, the more they want us to do. And as much as everyone keeps saying the Jewish people are leaving the country, leaving France, [plenty of] people are still here.
“And they are looking to us for guidance and support.”
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