Report on Congregation Sim Shalom’s situation and the present-day Hungary
seen by Armin Langer of the Sim Shalom Progressive Jewish Congregation’s Youth Group
The Sim Shalom Progressive Jewish Congregation is the first and largest progressive Jewish community in Hungary, located in the capital city, Budapest and lead by Rabbi Katalin Kelemen. Since our launch in 1992 our fellowship is very active in the Hungarian Jewish community. We participate in the local Limmud weekend, the Judafest street festival, take part in the events of the Bálint Ház Jewish Community Centre etc. We are a founding member of the Cooperation Forum of World Religions.
In addition to the Shabbat services, shiurs, religious feasts and other activities, in 2002 we started the 1st youth group affiliated with a synagogue in Hungary. Seeing the success of this project, the congregation started a new youth group in 2008. It meets every second Monday to study the Torah with the rabbi, and regularly visits museums, theater plays and movies. The Youth Group frequently organizes programs for the congregation: photo exhibitions, screenings and different events connected to religious holidays – for example we have shot a highly acclaimed musical video-clip of a Purim Spiel. You can see it at:
Our congregation was founded in 1992, was recognized since 2004 as a church by the state – until 2012, when the recently elected government changed our status. Losing that legal recognition means lots of unforeseen burdens for our synagogue. Besides the loss of financial support, it also degrades us, making the Progressive Jewish community seem to be less important than the Orthodox and Neolog (‘Orthodox light’) streams of Judaism or the Chabad, all of which obtained full recognition. Following the parliament’s final decision on 27th February 2012 we won’t get any support from the state and won’t be able to collect the donations of the tax-payers – practically speaking, our synagogue will lose 25% or more of its yearly budget.
To understand the government’s decision we have to look a bit closer at present-day Hungary…
The Hungarian economy has suffered much more from the recent economic crisis then most of the European countries – and at the same time the far right got utterly stronger. In 2007 the Hungarian Guard (Magyar Gárda) paramilitary group was launched by the openly antisemitic, racist and homophobic Neo-Fascist party, the Jobbik (lit. ‘The Better’). In the latest elections in 2010 this admittedly non-democratic party got into the parliament; they are now the 2nd most popular party in country.
But the even bigger challenge that progressive-thinkers have to face after the election results is the absolute majority of the ultra-conservative party, Fidesz; having 263 seats out of the 386 in the Hungarian Parliament, they are able to decree almost everything they feel like. After establishing the National Media Authority , which controls all kind of media including newspapers, radio, TV, websites and blogs, creating a new constitution, which forbids same-sex marriage and considers Christianity to be the foundation of Hungary, limiting the power of the Constitutional Court, running state-supported campaigns against premarital sex and single lifestyle, renaming public spaces, closing progressive artistic centers (e. g. Tűzraktér) and the like, the new church law has been created in order to stop the ‘business churches’.
In contradiction with all progressive values, which presume the separation of state and church, the government has decided which religions shall be granted the status of ‘church’ and which shan’t – Progressive Judaism got listed in the second category of religious association. Neither the World Union for Progressive Judaism, nor the Jewish Rabbinic Council of North-America succeeded in their lobbying of the representatives in the parliament to have the Reform Movement recognized. Steps are now being taken to challenge this change of status in Hungarian and European courts.
Our congregation needs your help. In order to be able to pay the rent for the flat, which functions as our synagogue, and to be able to continue organizing programs for the community and all Hungarian Jewry, we need to find the amount of money which we lose as a consequence of no longer being recognized as a church in Hungary.
You can support us in this by sending a donation to Szim Salom Hitkozseg at;
Bank’s name: Unicredit Bank Hungary
Account number: 10918001-00000020-28290005
IBAN: HU31-10918001-00000020-28290005
SWIFT/BIC code: BACXHUHB
Armin Langer, Sim Shalom Youth Group Member
Jesse Weil, Treasurer, Sim Shalom Congregation
