Emmanuel Macron attends pre-Rosh Hashanah ceremony
French leader went to service at Great Synagogue of Paris, the first time a sitting president has done so
French President Emmanuel Macron attended a pre-Rosh Hashanah ceremony at the Great Synagogue of Paris, the first time that a sitting president has done so.
Macron, who was presented with several varieties of honey as a gift in honor of the Jewish New Year, did not speak at the Tuesday evening program, since France has a strict separation between state and religion, the French news agency AFP reported.
Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy, French Senate President Gerard Larcher and Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo also attended the ceremony. Macron was greeted by France’s Chief Rabbi Haim Korsia; Joel Mergui, president of the Consistoire organization that provides religious services to French Jews; and the chief rabbi of Paris, Michel Gugenheim, according to AFP.
Jewish community leaders who spoke at the program directed their concern about rising anti-Semitism in the country to the visiting president.
“Our children leave” because “France, the land of asylum, is becoming a land of exile for Jews,” Mergui said.
He also said that ritual slaughter, circumcision and vacation on religious holidays should “no longer be seen as concessions at the margins of the law… but obvious freedoms.”
- FULL Jewish News interview with John McDonnell: ‘MPs shouldn’t face deselection’
- Listen to the full interview with John McDonnell here:
Thank you for helping to make Jewish News the leading source of news and opinion for the UK Jewish community. Today we're asking for your invaluable help to continue putting our community first in everything we do.
For as little as £5 a month you can help sustain the vital work we do in celebrating and standing up for Jewish life in Britain.
Jewish News holds our community together and keeps us connected. Like a synagogue, it’s where people turn to feel part of something bigger. It also proudly shows the rest of Britain the vibrancy and rich culture of modern Jewish life.
You can make a quick and easy one-off or monthly contribution of £5, £10, £20 or any other sum you’re comfortable with.
100% of your donation will help us continue celebrating our community, in all its dynamic diversity...
Engaging
Being a community platform means so much more than producing a newspaper and website. One of our proudest roles is media partnering with our invaluable charities to amplify the outstanding work they do to help us all.
Celebrating
There’s no shortage of oys in the world but Jewish News takes every opportunity to celebrate the joys too, through projects like Night of Heroes, 40 Under 40 and other compelling countdowns that make the community kvell with pride.
Pioneering
In the first collaboration between media outlets from different faiths, Jewish News worked with British Muslim TV and Church Times to produce a list of young activists leading the way on interfaith understanding.
Campaigning
Royal Mail issued a stamp honouring Holocaust hero Sir Nicholas Winton after a Jewish News campaign attracted more than 100,000 backers. Jewish Newsalso produces special editions of the paper highlighting pressing issues including mental health and Holocaust remembrance.
Easy access
In an age when news is readily accessible, Jewish News provides high-quality content free online and offline, removing any financial barriers to connecting people.
Voice of our community to wider society
The Jewish News team regularly appears on TV, radio and on the pages of the national press to comment on stories about the Jewish community. Easy access to the paper on the streets of London also means Jewish News provides an invaluable window into the community for the country at large.
We hope you agree all this is worth preserving.
