Letter from Rabbi Michael Marmur & Mrs Gefen in response to the Charlotta Chorale of Tel Aviv Incident

Rabbi Michael Marmur

The Armenian Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem – October 2016

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Father Koryoun Baghdasaryan received the above letter from Rabbi Michael Marmur:

We received the below letter from Mrs Gefen, the coordinator of the Charlotta Chorale:

His Beatitude
Archbishop Nourhan Manougian
Armenian Patriarch of Jerusalem

Your Beatitude:

I write on behalf of Charlotta Chorale of Tel Aviv and our veteran Israeli chorus master, Eli Gefen. We are a Jewish classical ensemble of 18 male and female voices. Our maestro is the only survivor of his family of 40 souls who perished in the Holocaust in WW2.

Please know that we are appalled and outraged beyond words by the attack perpetrated by “Lehava” a gang of radical lunatic extremists who viciously attacked the beautiful Armenian choir at the Jerusalem Festival last week.

These criminals dare to commit such acts in the name of religion but theirs is thuggery not a belief in the Almighty God who made us all. They are living in the image of gangsters and get their ideas from rubbish film productions.

Our Chorale had the honour of singing in commemoration of the Centennial of the Genocide committed against the Armenian people. The commemoration took place in Jerusalem’s Church of St.Gregory and was attended by a vast throng of wonderful Armenian people who had walked in torch lit procession from St. James Cathedral to listen to our ceremony of sacred songs in Hebrew and English. We gave a similar performance at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and are presently planning to visit Yerevan to sing for the Armenian people in their homeland.

We shall remain standing at the side to support Your People’s fight for justice and recognition of the horrendous Genocide committed against them.

In asking Your Beatitude’s blessing, we remain, yours respectfully,

Sylvia Rita Gefen (Mrs.)
Coordinator
Charlotta Chorale of Tel Aviv”

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