Zagreb, (IKA) – During an interreligious program on Croatian Catholic Radio, The Power of Dialogue, Dr. Kotel Da-Don, Chief Rabbi of Croatia and Rabbi of the Bet Israel Jewish Community, commented on the model of confessional religious education in the schools. He upheld the right of every child to learn about his faith. Nonetheless, he noted that religious education has acquired negative connotations: “If someone belongs to a particular religion, I do not see the reason why such children are not taught about their religion in school. Naturally, when children who belong to the Catholic Church have their Catholic religious education, Jewish children should have their Jewish religious education and Muslim children should have theirs at the same time. As a religious person, want my children to grow in faith, to have religious instruction, to have this knowledge because such knowledge is essential. If someone wants to be an atheist, so be it, but not an atheist out of ignorance. It seems to me that a person should be a believer or atheist out of knowledge because one can be anything out of ignorance,” said Rabbi Da-Don. He also stresses the importance of family religious education: “People should understand that someone does not become religious in school but primarily in the family home … and, therefore, fear of learning to become religious in the school is unjustified. I am in favor of Jewish children learning about their heritage and Christians about theirs, which I would not prohibit. Although there were many who wanted to ban religious education, I personally was always in favor of religious education because I think that people should be aware of and acquainted with their heritage.”

He also spoke about the the Bet Israel Jewish Communities, whose members include both observant and nonobservant Jews. Rabbi Da-Don says that their cooperation is possible and actual. Respect, rather than tolerance, is important: “Tolerance means endurance or suffering but what we want is mutual respect.”

Regarding cooperation with other religious communities in Croatia, Dr. Kotel Da-Don says that many religious leaders in our country are on good terms with each other so that the situation regarding dialogue among the religious communities is satisfactory. Regarding the relationship between Muslims and Jews, the rabbi wishes that it would be on the level of respect that exists in Croatia because then we would not speak about hatred and war as seen in the Near East.
Three years ago, the Bet Israel Jewish Community signed a contract with the Republic of Croatia. Similar contracts were signed by all the other religious communities. One of the reasons was the financing of the elementary school. The Bet Israel Jewish Community is the founder of the Lauder-Hugo Kon Elementary School. This is a private school with accreditation. It offers an excellent program with the approval of the Ministry of Education and Sports, as well as a series of extracurricular activities for children who have to be at school from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., which are especially appreciated by parents. The school is attended by approximately the same numbers of Jews and non-Jews. “Despite the signed contract with the state, the school was discriminated against in terms of funding,” said the rabbi, adding that it was only a year ago that the school was entered into the school funding program by the ministry, and this for less than half the staff. The rabbi thanked the newly appointed Minister Jovanović for taking steps to address this problem so that the school will be funded in the same manner as the other elementary schools owned by religious communities. Three months ago, the Lauder-Hugo Kon Elementary School moved to a new location in the center of the city of Zagreb, King Petar Svačić Square 6.