The Jewish Community of Finland has appointed a new chief rabbi

Židovska zajednica u Finskoj je  imenovala novog rabina

Rabbi Simon Livson was inducted in a ceremony at the synagogue of the Jewish Community of Helsinki by the Chief Rabbi of Efrat and the Chancellor of Or Torah Stone Institute Rabbi Dr. Shlomo Riskin together with Senior Rabbi of the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale (HIR) Rabbi Abraham Weiss.

Rabin Simon Livson  je postavljen na ceremoniji u sinagogi  Židovske zajednice u Helsinkiju od  strane  dr. Shlomo Riskina, glavnog rabina Efrata i kancelara Or Torah Stone instituta  i od rabina Abrahama Weissa, senior rabina Hebrew Institute u Riverdale.

Rabin Livson je rođen u Jeruzalemu 1982 i preselio se u Finsku kada mu je bilo sedam godina  zajedno sa roditeljima koji su rođeni u Finskoj. Položio je svoj BA na Helsinki Business Polytechnic. Godine 2006 preselio se u Jeruzalem gdje je 2007 . počeo rabinske studije na Yeshivat Hamivtar u  Efratu.

 On je prvi rabin koji govori finski u povijesti finskih Židova. On je rabin Židovskih zajednica u Helsinkiju i Turku, zamijenio je rabina Moshe Edelmana, koji je dugo bio u službi i sada je umirovljen. Oženjen je i ima mladu kćerku.

Još vijesti o finskim Židovima:

Senior Finnish politician accuses Jewish control of US

Pertti Salonainen, a member of the Finnish Conservative Party and vice-chairman of Finland’s parliamentary foreign affairs committee, has accused Jews of controlling American foreign policy through their monetary power and media interests.

Finland's Jews advised not to wear kippa

Finland's Jewish community members have been advised not to wear a skullcap in public for fear of anti-Semitic attacks.   The security officer added that the community faced six to 10 anti-Semitic incidents a month. Yaron Nadbornik, president of Helsinki's Jewish community, said in response that the advice was not issued by the community leaders...

"The situation for Jews in Finland is vastly better than in other Nordic countries and has historically been very good. I personally walk to synagogue with a kippa regularly and have not felt or heard any kind of harassment," Nadbornik added.

Only 1,500 Jews live in Finland today, many of them descendants of the Jewish soldiers who served in the Russian army in Finland in the mid-19th century, when Finland was an autonomous grand duchy of the czarist empire. The soldiers eventually gained the right to settle in the Nordic country and created basis for the Jewish community, establishing a synagogue in Helsinki in 1906. When Finland became independent in 1917, Jews were given full civil rights.

During World War II, Jews served along with Finns in the national army, fighting aggressions from both the Soviet Union and, later, Nazi Germany. Despite repeated pleas from one-time ally Germany, the Finnish government refused to take action against Jews or deprive their civil rights during the war.

Besides the Helsinki house of worship complete with Jewish school, there is also a synagogue in the western city of Turku, where some 200 Jews live.