A delegation of 13 members of the Zionist Rabbinic Coalition with the leadership of the Azerbaijani Parliament. (Courtesy of Zionist Rabbinic Coalition)
A local rabbi led a delegation of fellow Zionist rabbis to Azerbaijan in a trip aimed at strengthening ties between Israel, the western Asian country and global Jewish communities.
Rabbi Stuart Weinblatt, the rabbi emeritus of Congregation B’nai Tzedek in Potomac, founded the Zionist Rabbinic Coalition in 2020. “As chairman of the Zionist Rabbinic Coalition, I thought it would be interesting and helpful for us to see firsthand a majority Muslim country which has positive relations with Israel and prides itself on not having any antisemitism,” Weinblatt said.
The Zionist Rabbinic Coalition delegation met with leaders of the Azerbaijan legislature. (Courtesy of Zionist Rabbinic Coalition)
For many of the 13 rabbis on the trip, this was their first visit to Azerbaijan, located in the Caucasus region at the crossroads between Europe and Asia. The delegation, including Rabbi Jan Kaufman of Washington, D.C., and Rabbi Uri Topolosky of Kehilat Pardes – The Rock Creek Synagogue in Rockville, spoke with the country’s officials to highlight the importance of sparking dialogue between different people and groups.
“It was an intense few days that we were there, filled with one meeting after the next,” Weinblatt said, adding that he returned to the United States feeling much more informed.
“We met with an array of top leaders there, all of whom said … they don’t like to use the word ‘tolerance,’ because tolerance implies putting up with something you don’t necessarily like or agree with,” Weinblatt recalled. “Instead, they prefer to use the term ‘cultural diversity’ or the term ‘pluralism,’ but not ‘tolerance.’”
Azerbaijan has maintained a strong relationship with Israel, the only Muslim-majority country to do so despite pressure from other Muslim-majority nations.
Rabbi Stuart Weinblatt and Hikmet Hajiyev, the assistant to the president of Azerbaijan and head of the Department of Foreign Affairs. (Courtesy of Zionist Rabbinic Coalition)
The delegation met with Hikmet Hajiyev, Azerbaijan’s national security advisor, to discuss the country’s strategic partnership with Israel. He spoke to the strength of the population’s support for Israel, noting that in the Eurovision Song Contest, Israel received the maximum number of votes from Azerbaijan’s voters and judges.
“It was a real eye-opener for us,” Weinblatt said of the meetings with top officials. “Many people don’t know about the extent of the positive feelings and the positive relationship that exist. … [Our trip] was an opportunity for us to be able to see and bring back to others the message that it is possible for there to be positive relations [with] Jews and [with] Israel in a Muslim country.”
The delegation also toured all three synagogues in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, and spent time with members of the local Jewish community. The country’s 25,000 Jews make up less than 0.2% of the entire population.
“I was inspired by the Jewish communal leaders we met and their incredible commitment and sacrifice to provide opportunities for religious meaning and growth,” Topolosky wrote in a statement to Washington Jewish Week.
The group attended daily minyanim at what locals call the synagogue of the Mountain Jews. They spent Friday night at a Sephardic synagogue and Saturday at the Ashkenazi Jewish synagogue, both housed within one building.
“We felt very much at home; we were very warmly welcomed,” Weinblatt said.
Children at a Jewish day school in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, welcome the Zionist Rabbinic Coalition delegation.
(Courtesy of Zionist Rabbinic Coalition)
The delegation delved into local culture and education at an Azerbaijani Jewish school, among other educational institutions. One public school offers two tracks, one for Jewish students to learn Hebrew, and the other for Muslim students.
“The Muslim and Jewish students and the different programs worked very well,” Weinblatt said. “Sometimes they will go to each other’s holiday celebrations, and they are supportive of each other in so many ways.”
The group traveled to Krasnaya Sloboda, a rare instance of a settlement outside of Israel made up of an entirely Jewish population. Many of their meals came from a kosher restaurant, where Weinblatt said the excellent service was representative of Azerbaijan’s welcoming atmosphere as a whole.