The Mahar conference of Jewish Communities in Southeast and Central Europe,which
takes place every year, was first held six years ago in the Montenegrin town of Budva. This event, which is the largest Jewish conference in southeastern Europe, attracts around five hundred representatives – including diplomats, government officials and government ministers – from some fifteen countries in central and southeastern Europe.
This event is organized by the Montenegrin Jewish community under the leadership of its president and the president of KKL-JNF Montenegro, with the support of the World Jewish Congress (WJC), the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress (EAJC) and the Montenegrin government.
The conference, which is designed to nurture and preserve the Jewish communities of the Balkans and southeastern Europe, serves as a meeting ground that strengthens links between Jewish people in this region and Jewish and Israeli organizations, with the aim of advancing cooperation and fortifying the communities.
The theme of this year’s conference, which took place on October 25th-28th, was the 70th anniversary of the Jewish State, and the event was attended by representatives from Montenegro, Hungary, Poland, Serbia, Croatia, Romania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Macedonia, Greece, Turkey, Bulgaria, Albania, Slovenia and elsewhere.
Because of its Board of Directors’ decision to strengthen links with Diaspora Jewry, KKL-JNF is a major supporter of the Mahar conference, and KKL-JNF’s International Relations and Conferences Department Director
Karine Bolton-Laor and Education and Youth Division Director
Simon Elbaz represented the organization’s board of directors at this year’s event. The conference was coordinated by
Liliana Vuković, the representative of KKL-JNF Montenegro.
In honor of
Israel’s 70th anniversary, a number of different exhibitions about Israel were on display during the conference. KKL-JNF had its own information booth, and leading figures from the participating communities took part in debates and gave lectures. Productive working meetings were also held.
The representatives of the various participating countries thanked KKL-JNF for its involvement in strengthening relations between the different communities, and remarked on the fact that so far, KKL-JNF’s activities, which have included a
Tu BiShvat seminar and an educators’ congress, have met with great success. The community representatives requested additional seminars on Judaism and ecology and asked for relevant information to be sent out from Jerusalem. They also expressed an interest in organizing visits to Israel for youth delegations, who would take part in educational and young leadership seminars.