Azernews.Az

By Amina Nazarli

The "Mountain Jews" synagogue in Baku hosted a meeting with the Jewish Community of America on September 1.

Mubariz Gurbanli, Chairman of the Azerbaijani State Committee for Work with Religious Organizations, MPs, heads of religious communities, representatives of civil society and diplomats accredited in the country attended the event.

At the meeting, the American Jewish Community presented a Sacred Torah to Azerbaijani Mountain Jews community. The Torah was donated by the Movsumovs family, who live in the U.S. .

Speaking at the ceremony, representatives of the Jewish community thanked the Movsumovs family for the gift.

In turn, Gurbanli highlighted the participation of representatives of all religious confessions in the ceremony.

“I do not believe such a tradition exists somewhere else in the world. Azerbaijan, as a secular state, respects all religions. Tolerance is lifestyle of the Azerbaijani people. Jews are the most ancient inhabitants of Azerbaijan,” the chairman said.

Israeli Ambassador to Azerbaijan Daniel Stav, for his part, stressed the importance of this day for the Jewish people. He believes that Azerbaijan, as a multicultural country, sets an example to the world.

Modern Azerbaijan is a perfect worldwide example in terms of religious tolerance, multiculturalism and religious safety.

Being a Muslim majority country, Azerbaijan is a home to a big Jewish community, who is as many other religious centers, including Catholics, Protestants and members of the Russian Orthodox Church, live in safety here.

The country’s north region of Guba is home to Azerbaijan's largest community of Mountain Jews, who live in Krasnaya Sloboda (Red Town).

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Amina Nazarli is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @amina_nazarli

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