Holland – Rabbi Receives Highest Dutch Honor From Queen

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    Rabbi Jacobs with Queen Beatrix April 27 2012Holland – Rabbi Binyomin Jacobs, Chief Rabbi of the Inter-Provincial Cheif Rabbinate in Holland and member of the Rabbinical Centre of Europe, was made today an Officer of the Order of Orange-Nassau, one of the highest civilian awards given by the Queen of Holland. The honour is usually given to princes of other royal families in Europe, diplomats, artists, and social activists. It is the first time in the history of the Dutch Jewish community where a rabbi has received this honour.

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    Rabbi Binyomin Jacobs, who is 62 years of age, was born in Holland and has served there as a rabbi for over 30 years. The award was given to him for his activities building bridges in Dutch society, especially for his interfaith and inter-communal work, for his position as rabbi of the Sinai Medical Centre in Amtelveen, for his activities on behalf of the Jewish community as the Chief Rabbi of the Inter-Provincial Cheif Rabbinate and for his activities on behalf of European Jewry as a prominent member of the Rabbinical Centre of Europe (RCE), Brussels-based organization representing over 700 European religious leaders and dedicated to meeting the needs of Jewish communities in Europe.

    Thanks to these and many other activities, Rabbi Jacobs is a well known personality in Holland and is a highly sought after lecturer and interviewee in the Dutch media. Rabbi Jacobs was at the forefront of the battle which successfully cancelled a proposed law that would have banned shechitah, Jewish religious slaughter.

    Dr Benoit Wesly, Chairman of the Dutch Jewish community of Limburg and Honorary Consul of Israel to the Netherlands, was one of the people who recommended Rabbi Jacobs for the award. In reaction to the award, Dr. Wesly gave his views on the award:

    “This is an important day for Jews in this part of the world,” Dr. Wesly said. “The award given to Rabbi Jacbos is an honour for all the Jews in Holland. It gives our community great pride and we thank God and congratulate Rabbi Jacobs and his wife on this great honour.”

    Rabbi Arye Goldberg, Deputy Director of the RCE, also spoke about his pride upon hearing news of the award. “This award is a true recognition of the important work of Rabbi Jacobs, not just amongst the Jewish community in Holland, but in Dutch society in general,” Rabbi Goldberg said. “In addition, as a prominent member of the Rabbinical Centre of Europe, Rabbi Jacobs helps us assist Jewish life across the European continent.”

    “This type of award demonstrates that the rabbis of the RCE are doing an excellent job of not just working in the communities but also of representing Jewish causes to European authorities and officials.”

    The Order of Orange Nassau was established 120 years ago and given by the Queen of the Netherlands. The award is given every year on birthday of Queen Beatrix. It is given by her representatives to people all over Holland.

    The Order of Orange-Nassau is a chivalry order open to “everyone who has earned special merits in society”. These are people who deserve appreciation and recognition from society for the special way in which they have carried out their activities. The order is comparable with the Order of the British Empire in the UK.

     

     


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    12 Comments
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    shredready
    shredready
    11 years ago

    very nice i hope people look up to him and what he did and not criticize him for trying bridge the gap between people of other faiths

    golde
    golde
    11 years ago

    he is a lubavitcher Chosid. Well known talmid chocom. And very well respected amonks all. Long life rabbi Jacobs

    Benny
    Benny
    11 years ago

    It doesn’t matter if he is Lubavitcher, main thing that he is a good person

    itzik18
    itzik18
    11 years ago

    Mazel tov!

    MSchaper
    MSchaper
    11 years ago

    Very nice. My husband is from Holland, nice to see.

    golde
    golde
    11 years ago

    to all you Shlucim around the world. Keep up the great work and help bring moshiach

    11 years ago

    Isn’t Rov Ralbag the Chief Rabbi of Holland?

    11 years ago

    The Order of Orange-Nassau has two divisions, civil and military, the former denoted by a wreath of laurel on the badges, and the latter by crossed swords on both the badges and the stars.

    The King or Queen Regnant of the Netherlands is the Grand Master of the Order of Orange-Nassau. In addition to this special grade, the Order of Orange-Nassau is issued in six classes.

    The following grades exist for the Order of Orange-Nassau:

    1.Grand Cross – badge may be worn on a sash on the right shoulder, plus an 8-pointed star on the left chest;
    2.Grand Officer – badge may be worn by men on a necklet, and by women worn on a ribbon tied as a bow at the left chest. Also a 4-pointed star is worn on the left chest;
    3.Commander – badge may be worn by men on a necklet, and by women worn on a ribbon tied as a bow at the left chest;
    4.Officer – wears the badge on a ribbon with a rosette on the left chest;
    5.Knight – wears the badge on a ribbon on the left chest;
    6.Member (since 1996) – wears a smaller badge on a ribbon on the left chest;
    7.Honorary Medals in Gold, Silver and Bronze (until 1996) – no longer issued, replaced by grade “Member”. Will the Rov wear the medal that has a cross on it?

    11 years ago

    to #3

    Don’t go Chabad – until you need us.

    11 years ago

    Rabbi Binyomin Jacobs is the Chief Rabbi of Holland. This from Wikipedia :
    Netherlands – Inter-Provincial Chief rabbinate
    Dov Yehuda Schochet (1946–1952) [Chief Rabbi of The Hague]
    Elieser Berlinger (1960–1985)
    Binyomin Jacobs (2008–recent)

    Groningen
    Groningen
    11 years ago

    The IPOR Chief Rabbi, is the NIK (Dutch Israelite Religious Community (more litterally “Church” Community) Chief rabbi of the part of the Netherlands not covered by the rabbis of Amsterdam, The Hague and Rotterdam, (so the three main Urban areas in Holland), so he is hardly the Chief Rabbi of Holland. The special thing is that he is an officer
    There is photographic evidence that he did wear the decoration, (photograph instructive, the rabbi is an officer, Roel van Praag a knight and Nechama Mayer a member).
    Other decorated people mentioned on that site are Kalman Bruinvelds (Amersfoort too), Philip Soesan (breda), Frits Barend, Flory Cohen-Polak and Helen van Os (Amstelveen), Elly Hertzberger, Erika van Gelder and rabbi Lody van der Kamp (Amsterdam).
    A bit of confusion may have been caused by the translation/misunderstanding of an indication of the denomination, different from Masorti, Liberal/Progressive and Sephardic (in Amsterdam), it seems that a number of Dutch Sephardic rabbis have received this decoration before rabbi Jacobs.