Estonia represents a paradigm in Europe for the relations between a government and the Jewish community, a delegation of the Rabbinical Centre of Europe (RCE), an organization dedicated to meeting the needs of Jewish communities in Europe, said after visiting this Baltic state.
The delegation met in Tallinn, the Estonian capital, with several officials including Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves, Prime Minister Andrus Ansip and the city's Mayor Edgar Savisaar.
The rabbis also visited the Jewish community, its synagogue, schools and museum, opened a Beit Midrash, a religious study centre, before holding a meeting with members of the community at a local community center.
The RCE delegation included Rabbi Yitzchak Schochet, Rabbi of the Mill Hill Synagogue in London and chairman of the Rabbinical Council of the United Synagogue in the UK, Rabbi Binyomin Jacobs, Chief Rabbi of the Interprovincial Chief Rabbinate in Holland and Head of the Rabbinical Committee of Holland, and Rabbi Yaakov Dovid Schmahl, Rabbinical judge at the Antwerp Rabbinical court.
This was a hugely important and successful visit to Estonia," said RCE spokesman Rabbi Asher Gold.
"The Estonian government is extremely supportive of the Jewish community, not just through statements, but in action and deeds," he added.
The Jewish community in Estonia which has a very dark history and was the first country to be declared Judenfrei, completely free of Jews, by the Nazis during WWII, today enjoys a renaissance.
Over two thousand Jews live in the country, mostly in and around Tallinn.
In 2000, Rabbi Shmuel Kot was made the first Chief Rabbi of Estonia since WWII and an ultramodern Synagogue was built in the capital in 2007. It was inaugurated by Estonia’s president and his Israeli counterpart Shimon Peres.
Estonia is about to become an official member of the Eurozone in 2011.
"As one of the newest members of the EU, Estonia leads the way and serves as a paradigm for excellent relations between the government and the Jewish community," Gold said.
“On almost every issue, the Jewish community has an open door and a receptive ear in the government, at all levels,” he added.
He stressed that anti-Semitism "is at an almost negligible level and Jewish life is thriving in a place which had no Jews only a few decades ago."
The RCE expressed its appreciation for the "impressive" leadership in the Estonian Jewish community, led by Boris Oks, chairman of the Jewish Centre and the religious community, and Ala Jacobson, president of the Jewish community.
Among the topics raised with them was the controversial EU law to brand kosher products with discriminatory labeling.
The Estonian president has assured that the Jewish community can count on the support of his country on this controversial topic within the European Parliament.