Netherlands Shliach’s Home Attacked
The home of Head Shliach and Chief Rabbi of the Netherlands, Rabbi Binyomin Jacobs, was attacked with stones by unidentified assailants early this morning. It was the second attack on his home in under a week.
From the JTA:
A chief rabbi of the Netherlands said unidentified individuals hurled stones at his home in what he said was the second anti-Semitic attack on him in a week.
Rabbi Binyomin Jacobs said the latest attack took place at 5 a.m. Thursday, when two stones were hurled through a window of his home in Amersfoort.
An earlier incident outside his home on July 10 ended without damage, he said. Jacobs’ home has been targeted five times in recent years, he told JTA.
“The fact that these attacks are recurrent shows the depth of hatred that exists against Jews,” he added.
Milhouse
Rabbi Jacobs is not Chief Rabbi of the Netherlands. There is no chief rabbi of the whle country. Each of the major cities has its own chief rabbi, and Rabbi Jacobs is the chief rabbi of the “outlying provinces”, i.e. the rest of the country. His territory covers most of the Netherlands but only a small proportion of its Jews. He’s like Chabad of Regional And Rural Australia; they cover anyone who doesn’t live in an established community, but that doesn’t make Sauly Spigler the “chief shliach to Australia”!
BCH
There are actually two “head shluchim” and two “chief rabbis” of the Netherlands (different people in each case). Rabbi Jacobs happens to be one of the two head shluchim and one of the two chief rabbis. The other chief Rabbi is Rabbi Ralbag, chief rabbi or Amsterdam, and Rabbi Jacobs is the chief rabbi for the rest of the country. So this post is not inaccurate at all. Also, you see that the JTA article refers to him as “A” chief Rabbi, not “THE” chief Rabbi. But, really, is this kind of correction the only response that this article elicits from you?
Milhouse
1. Not only Amsterdam has its own chief rabbi — so do Rotterdam, The Hague, and Leiden i.e. all the big cities. (I think the Leiden position is currently vacant.) Rabbi Jacobs is the “inter-provincial chief rabbi”, i.e. chief rabbi of whatever is outside these four cities.
2. The JTA piece correctly uses the indefinite article, but the CHinfo piece doesn’t. And this is far from the first time.
3. Yes, correcting mistakes is important.
TULIPS
He actually does carry the title of chief Rabbi as well as head shliach. In addition he has been appointed by the vaad harabonim in the Netherlands as their representative.
He is also a prominent member in the European rabbinate as you surely have seen last week when he visited Putin and Bibi the week before,
Mill house, you are hiding your true identity, but it’s clear that you have been away from Holland for more than 20 years. Your bitterness is understandable taking your life experiences into consideration , but your lashing out at Rabbi Jacobs at every opportunity is not justified and does not bring you anything good.
For your own benefit, stop criticizing others and start putting your own life together.
Milhouse
I have never lashed out at Rabbi Jacobs, or criticised him in any way. And you clearly have no idea who I might be, and what experiences I might have had. But it is a simple matter of fact that he is not the chief rabbi of the Netherlands, and it is wrong to call him that. He is the chief rabbi of those Jews who live outside the main cities. That’s an important job, but not the one CHinfo says he has.
To MILHOUSE
Don’t you have more to say about a Jew whose home is attacked than showing off your knowledge about how titles are used or misused. The man’s home was attacked by anti-semtes in the Netherlands; where’s a yiddishe crechtz, an oy vey, a “rachmana litzlan”…. a conveying of heart break, of sympathy.
I have rachmonis on you brother.
Milhouse
Do you really think it’s not important to get things right?!