"From Gaza to Budapest": Pro-Palestinians tried to sabotage the "Cholent Festival"

In Budapest, the capital of Hungary, the "Synagogue Week" and the "International Hungarian Cholent Festival" have opened — two central events designed to connect the country's one hundred thousand Jews with synagogues and Jewish tradition. Another goal is to connect the non-Jewish Hungarian public with the local Jewish community in order to introduce them to the faith, traditions, and Jewish cuisine, and thereby fight antisemitism.

The Cholent Festival is taking place for the tenth time and over the years has become one of the largest Jewish cultural events in Hungary — and popular and beloved by the Hungarian public. The event is free of charge and presents the culture, tradition, and Jewish cuisine to the public through strictly kosher food stalls.

The festival, as well as the Synagogue Week, are held for the public by EMIH — the Association of Torah-Observant Communities in Hungary, and in total, tens of thousands of Hungarian residents, both Jewish and non-Jewish, participate in them every year, with the number of participants growing from year to year.

This year, in the shadow of the dramatic change of government in Hungary, with the ousting of Prime Minister Orban who ruled the Central European country for many years and prevented attempts by pro-Palestinian elements to demonstrate in the city streets, a well-known local rapper named Gergely Komaromi, known by the nickname G Ras, announced last week a demonstration to be held at the entrance to the Cholent Festival, under the title "Együtt az Igazságért Palesztinától Budapestig" which means "Together for Justice - from Palestine to Budapest".

"A dangerous, malicious, and ugly provocation"

This intention aroused anger in the Jewish community due to the provocation inherent in it. Sources in Hungarian Jewry said that there is a significant difference between a regular demonstration and holding it inside a community event, in the heart of the district. According to them, "This is a dangerous, malicious, and ugly provocation, intended to hurt the feelings of the Jewish community, at a time when the Jews of Hungary are gathering to celebrate together".

The storm around the issue gained additional weight in light of the fact that just the week before, the same extreme anti-Israel organization held a demonstration in Budapest demanding the release of Abu Safiya, the director of the Kamal Adwan Hospital in the northern Gaza Strip.

The protesters said that it was harassment of a medical professional, but Israel's ambassador to Hungary, Maya Kadosh, noted that he is not a doctor but an officer with the rank of colonel in the Hamas terrorist organization, and that the Kamal Adwan Hospital served as a fertile ground for the terrorist organization's activity.

The demonstration in support of Abu Safiya aroused sharp reactions in the Hungarian political arena, and the Mayor of Budapest, Gergely Karácsony, publicly came out against the protest and against presenting Abu Safiya as a figure worthy of public solidarity at all. The organizers of the demonstration, on the other hand, claimed that the mayor adopted the Israeli narrative, attacked him explicitly, and said that it is impossible for Israeli public officials to spread Israel's "false propaganda".

The Chief Rabbi of Hungary, Rabbi Slomó Köves, said in response that "when an anti-Israel protest intentionally reaches the physical space of a local Jewish event, a dangerous red line is crossed. The initial choice to hold such a demonstration precisely at the place and time of one of the largest public Jewish events in the city raises concerns due to the crossing of the border between political protest, even if it is false and illegitimate, and directing the confrontation towards local Jews. This is especially worrying against the background of the attempt by Western European countries in recent years, where anti-Israel demonstrations have become a separate name for hostile harassment against local Jews".

The public storm did its part, and the route of the demonstration that was initially approved was moved to prevent antisemitic harassment against the Jews of Hungary. EMIH thanked the authorities for their understanding of the great sensitivity and the moving of the march.

According to Köves, "The answer to these events is not to hide Jewish life or to retreat from the public space but exactly the opposite: the Jewish community in Hungary is an integral part of the fabric of life in the country. Jews have a full right to maintain their culture, religion, and community life openly, safely, and with pride, without becoming an address for antisemitic and anti-Israel protests. The message of the festival and the Synagogue Week remains as it was from the beginning: Jewish culture belongs to the public space of Budapest. The Jewish community will not give up its right to live an open Jewish life, both in Budapest and everywhere throughout Hungary".

Selichot in Hungary

The Cholent Festival also served as the starting shot for the "Synagogue Week" which spans two weeks, centered on the days of mercy and forgiveness (Selichot) celebrated these days in the Jewish world, and within the framework of which a series of synagogues in the Jewish quarter of Budapest open their doors to the many visitors.

In this framework, two new synagogues will be inaugurated in the coming days in the Hungarian capital. One of them is the first of its kind in the world intended for and managed by young people. "The synagogue's gabbai will be under 18, as will the president of the community and the other office holders," say EMIH.

"The goal is to let young people manage their community themselves and with their own strength, in a young spirit, and not for adults to manage them. This is intended to make young Hungarians see the Jewish community as their home, after some of them avoid entering regular synagogues because they do not find their place among older worshippers".

The synagogue belongs to the developing international Jewish movement C-teen, and its rabbi will be the only adult person: Rabbi Tsemi Basman, in his early 30s. According to him, "As far as we know, this is the first pilot of its kind in the world, and I am sure that after Hungary it will sweep many communities around the world and also in Israel".