For the Los Angeles-born Rabbi Ari Edelkopf, appointed as a Jewish spiritual leader in Montenegro in 2017, his commitment to espousing halachic principles to an increasingly curious and growing community nestled in the Balkans remains inspiring.
“Not only do we have a cultural center with adult programs and Hebrew classes for children, but we also have a kosher restaurant in Budva with an Israeli chef,” Rabbi Edelkopf effusively tells the Queens Jewish Link. “People come for kosher breakfast and for falafel. It’s a beautiful atmosphere for local Jews [mingling with visitors of all types]. Some are observant, and some are not. But they’re all here to observe Shabbat.”
The rabbi reminds, too, that there are two active synagogues in Montenegro.
“I’ve been a rabbi for 24 years, and I have been here for seven and a half years – as it was in early 2017 when I became rabbi in Montenegro,” he says. “We have two full-time rabbis here, [but] I’m the first rabbi to be living here [full time]. We have many Israelis who come to visit. We have a good relationship with the Montenegrin government.”
At the time of being appointed rabbi in Montenegro, Rabbi Edelkopf previously worked in Russia. Regrettably, he had been ordered to leave Russia under spurious charges. [He was accused of being a threat to national security.] So, in February 2017, he and his wife Hana, together with their seven children, left Sochi and soon was asked to be rabbi in Montenegro. He was among several foreign-born Chabad rabbis expelled from Russia since 2014.
Jews have lived in Montenegro since the Middle Ages, according to Chabad.org, and the modern-day Jewish population is a mixture of Sefardim and Ashkenazim – having survived the fiercely anti-religious communist rule during the mid-to-late 20th century. Jewish education had been stymied and expunged during the draconian communist era.
Fortunately, over the last 20 years, there has been a renaissance for fostering Jewish life and its rich culture. The crowning achievement was culminated by its annual Machar conference, which continues to bring together more than 500 representatives from 17 countries and Jewish communities throughout the Balkans.
When the Queens Jewish Link broached the topic of anti-Semitism persisting in the country, Rabbi Edelkopf emphatically counters with, “Montenegro has a special relationship with the Jewish people who were saved here during the time of the Holocaust. There were no concentration camps; and while there were only around 50 Jews, after World War II the numbers actually grew to 500.
One aspect Montenegro did not have, however, were “real organized communities like you’d see with old synagogues in Bosnia or Greece for centuries,” the rabbi explains. “Montenegro has had very small Jewish populations, as Jews were coming in and out” for decades after World War II. “This basically changed 15 to 20 years ago when Jewish communities, many of whom were from the Hungarian side of Serbia and others from Russian-speaking areas of Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine,” began moving to the idyllic seaside country.
“The year 2017 was when we were asked to come by the local community of Montenegro. [It was then that] we met Jews in the community [and connected] via social media [with a mission] of making things more thriving and active for Jewish life.
“Today we have many events for Shabbos and children’s summer camp. We have Torah lessons and holiday programs. We have Israelis, Americans, and Europeans coming in, and they find Montenegro to be a quiet and good place to live in. It’s also not too far from Israel, as it’s about a two-and-a-half-hour flight. It’s like ‘a home away from home,’” he says.
The real strength of Jewish ruach lies in the thriving goodwill programs within Montenegro.
“We have a lot of humanitarian programs [as we reach] every single Jewish home to help and bring food [when necessary]. During this [current] war in Ukraine, our Montenegrin Jewish communities have been able to host many Ukrainian refugees. We have given them clothing and medicine and whatever else they needed.”
Russians, who also managed to flee as the war began, have also been helped by the local Jewish communities of Montenegro, he says.
“[In the wake of the horrors of] October 7, we flew in 180 special-needs children from Ashkelon and southern towns of Israel. We brought them to five to seven hotels in Montenegro,” concludes Rabbi Edelkopf. “These kids were able to rest, recover, and get the help they needed, so they could get better.”
By Jared Feldschreiber
