Ashkenazi community Chief Rabbi Shneor Segal of Baku, Azerbaijan, joined last week the visit of a senior delegation to Washington, DC, that included the Deputy Chairman of the State Committee for Work with Religious Organizations, Mr. Siyavush Heydarov.

During the visit, Rabbi Segal, who is highly regarded by the Azerbaijan people and its leadership, met with Government officials and religious organizations. The delegation he joined, consisted of the leaders and representatives of the Apostolic Prefecture of the Catholic Church in the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Christian religious community “Azerbaijan Bible Society” in Baku, as well as Baku religious communities of European and Georgian Jews.

The delegation held a number of bilateral meetings during the visit. The delegation met at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum with the Director of the Department for Combating Holocaust Denial and Anti-Semitism Tad Stahnke, as well as Arabic Audience Outreach Program Manager, Mina Abdelmalak.

Moreover, meetings were held with representatives of the influential American Jewish organizations AJC, AIPAC, JCSEJ, and B’nai B’rith, as well as with members of the Founding Committee of the Senate and the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, Chief of Staff of Senator John Boozman – Toni-Marie Higgins.

After a day of meetings, the delegation visited “The SHUL” at the Chabad-Lubavitch Center in Washington, DC led by Rabbi Levi Shemtov, senior Shliach there and Executive Vice president of American Friends of Lubavitch (Chabad). The Ambassador of Azerbaijan to the United States, Khazar Ibrahim, was in attendance during some of the visit, in addition to the delegation of officials.

The guests heard from Rabbi Segal about Jewish life in Azerbaijan, where the Jewish residents live and enjoy freedom of religion with the full support of the government of President Ilham Aliyev. Ambassador Ibrahim presented a special ceremonial gift to Rabbi Levi Shemtov.

Based on articles by COLlive.com and Azertag