Jewish community of Montenegro
Jewish community of Montenegro
Rabbi Ari Edelkopf was born in Jerusalem in 1978 to a traditional family. He spent his childhood and youth in Los Angeles. He studied in yeshivas: Ohr Elhanan in Los Angeles, Torat Emet in Jerusalem, Tomhei Tmimim in Kiryat Gat and New York, as well as Rabbinical College of America in Morristown, New Jersey. From 2001 to 2017 he was the Chief Rabbi in the city of Sochi.
Ari Edelkopf moved to Montenegro in 2017 where he became the first rabbi in Montenegro. On 1 October 2019, Rabbi Ari Edelkopf was appointed the official Jewish leader and Chief Rabbi of Montenegro.
Immediately after the move, Rabbi Ari Edelkopf and his wife Chana began actively developing the Jewish community, working with over 500 Jews in Montenegro, as well as with expatriates and tourists. Promoting Jewish traditions by organising all traditional Jewish holidays. A separate aspect of their activities are charity projects, supporting elderly and low-income Jews in Montenegro. They also devote a lot of time to popularising Jewish culture.
Rabbanit Chana was born and raised in Israel, where she received a comprehensive education. Chana is the main organiser of Jewish traditional holidays in Montenegro and is involved in charity projects.
Rabbi Ari and Rabbanit Chana Edelkopf are the happy parents of eight children, the youngest of whom live with them in Podgorica. In 2023, their eldest daughter gave them their first granddaughter.
Rabbi Eliezer (Leizer) Ehrenfeld came to Montenegro in May 2023 to support the work of the Jewish community.
Born and raised in Israel (Ashdod), he studied at Chabad institutes in Migdal ha-Emek, Tiberias and New York. After completing his yeshiva studies, he returned and became a yeshiva teacher in Migdal ha-Emek.
Rabbi Leizer was actively involved in outreach programs from an early age. During his yeshiva years, he spent his holidays in Eastern Europe and East Asia, where he was a valuable asset to the Jewish community, promoting Jewish philosophy and observance of the commandments.
Rabbanit Ehrenfeld Chaya Mushka (Mushki) is the eldest of 12 siblings in her family. Born and raised in Israel (Kiryat Gat), she taught classes for girls.
In addition, Mushki studied graphic arts and photography at Or Haya Seminary in Jerusalem, worked in kindergartens and as a tutor at summer camps in Israel and at Jewish summer camps around the world.
Rabbi Leizer and Rabbanit Mushki are young parents and have two young daughters, Golda and Devorah Leah.
