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"Our thoughts and prayers are with the Jewish community at this time, and especially with those who were closest to Dr Alexandre Safran in life", said WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia, in a 28 July letter of condolence addressed to the Geneva Jewish community on the death of its Chief Rabbi. Expressing gratitude to God "for the great gift of his life, faith, intellect and service to humanity", Kobia recalled Safran's struggles "to warn the international community of the terrible menace posed to vulnerable minorities by Nazi domination in Europe", and described him as "an accomplished advocate for the state of Israel" whose contributions to inter-religious co-operation were "well ahead of his time".
The full text of the letter follows:
In Memory of Dr Alexandre Safran, Chief Rabbi of Geneva
28 July 2006
On behalf of the World Council of Churches, I write to express our deepest sympathy to the Jewish community on the death of Chief Rabbi Alexandre Safran. At the same time, I offer thanks to God for the great gift of his life, faith, intellect and service to humanity. In words borrowed from the funeral liturgy of Christian churches in his native Romania, "May his memory be eternal!"
Dr Safran became chief rabbi of Geneva in 1948, the year that the World Council of Churches was formally inaugurated. Before that, he had served as chief rabbi of Romania where he participated in inter-religious co-operation that was well ahead of its time. He strove to inform the world of atrocities perpetrated against the Jews. And, as the devastation that he had predicted came to pass, he re-dedicated himself to preserving life, and to aid and support those who were suffering.
In the World Council of Churches, we remember especially the chief rabbi's contributions to interfaith dialogue. His contacts with Christianity during the war years included interaction with Eastern Orthodoxy, with the future Pope John XXIII and with W.A. Visser 't Hooft, the first general secretary of the World Council of Churches. Years later, at the time of the Second Vatican Council when Cardinal Bea visited Geneva as an emissary of the pope, he would inevitably call on both the World Council of Churches and on Chief Rabbi Alexandre Safran.
Through his writing and presentations on the history of Judaism, spiritual practices, worship and the Kabballah, Dr Safran provided a wealth of learning to participants in inter-religious dialogue. He was also an accomplished advocate for the state of Israel, and we have learned much from him in all these spheres.
Our thoughts and prayers are with the Jewish community at this time, and especially with those who were closest to Dr Alexandre Safran in life. With you, we invoke God in the words of the psalm,
So teach us to count our days that we may gain a wise heart
Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love,
so that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.
(Psalm 90: 12,14)
May the Lord bless you and keep you, now and always.
With deep appreciation, I remain,
Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia
General Secretary