Religion

Religion

Torah presented to Mountain Jews Religious Community in Azerbaijan

01 September 2016 11:21 (UTC +04:00)

Baku. Malahat Najafova – APA. A ceremony was held in the Synagogue for Mountain Jews in Baku Sept. 1 to present a copy of the Torah to the Azerbaijan-based Religious Community of Mountain Jews.

The holy book of Judaism was gifted by the Movsumov’s, a family of Azerbaijani origin living in the US.

Present at the ceremony were Chairman of the State Committee for Work with Religious Organizations Mubariz Gurbanli, Israeli Ambassador to Azerbaijan Dan Stav, Azerbaijani Ambassador to the US Elin Suleymanov, leaders of various religious communities in Azerbaijan, Ambassadors of the U.S., Russia, Kyrgyzstan and several other countries, MPs and representatives of the Jewish community.

Representatives of the Jewish community expressed gratitude to the Azerbaijani family for the gift.

Addressing the event, State Committee Chairman Mubariz Gurbanli stressed the participation of representatives of all religious denominations in Azerbaijan in the ceremony of delivering the Torah.

“I don’t think that there is such a tradition somewhere else. Azerbaijan, as a secular state, respects all faiths. This is a manifestation of tolerance of the Azerbaijani people. The Jews are one of the ancient inhabitants of Azerbaijan”, he said.

In this speech, Israeli Ambassador to Azerbaijan Dan Stav underlined the great importance of this day for the Jewish people.

According to him, Azerbaijan’s model of multiculturalism is an example to the whole world.