László Győrfi, co-president of the United Hungarian Israelite Community (EMIH), received the Sándor Scheiber Prize on Wednesday in recognition of his work in promoting and reviving the kosher tradition in Hungary and his work in Jewish public life. The head of the only kosher bakery in Hungary received his state award from Secretary of State Miklós Soltész at the Zsilip Synagogue and Jewish Center in Budapest. The politician also spoke at the event about the domestic settlement of new Jewish communities fleeing Ukraine.
László Győrfi is known for his many years of dedicated work for his community. His example is an inspiration for all young people. The harmony of his public and religious roles is more than remarkable.
– said Miklós Soltész in his welcoming speech, paying tribute to the award winner on behalf of Deputy Prime Minister Zsolt Semjén, Minister without Portfolio for National Policy, Religious Affairs and Nationalities.
The politician stressed that the winners of the Sándor Scheiber Prize in recent years, such as the rabbi from Transcarpathia Abraham Lebovics and photographer András Villányi, have shown the same loyalty and devotion to their Jewish communities as László Győrfi, who was awarded the prize this year. Soltész also made a special reference to the fact that without such outstanding figures in the religious communities and without an active connection to such organizations, they would be less able to provide spiritual support to people who have been forced to flee Ukraine.
The politician also reported a new development in the Russian-Ukrainian crisis:
„We are preparing to welcome hundreds of Orthodox Jews in the near future”
– said the state secretary, who at the end of the event told Neokohn’s staff that, as before, the government’s intention to provide assistance to Jewish people displaced by the war remains as strong as ever.
Responding to Soltész’s words, Gábor Tóth, EMIH’s chief of staff, who attended the award ceremony, told our newspaper that arrangements are being made to provide housing for nearly a thousand people in Hungary. Members of the Ukrainian Jewish community are not in danger at the moment, having recently arrived in Poland, but they feel that they would have a better chance of living out their faith in Hungary because of the more developed religious infrastructure here, Gábor Tóth added.
Perhaps one of the „inescapable figures” of this kind of structural transformation, of ensuring religious customs, is László Győrfi, who was awarded the Scheiber Prize this year and who started 12 years ago with the distribution of kosher bakery products
– György Szabó said in his laudation. The president of the Hungarian Jewish Heritage Foundation (Mazsök) described in detail the professional work of the award winner and his role in community life, highlighting the fact that Győrfi has been the co-president of EMIH for a year and a half after a few years as vice-president.
„His mission is to be a bridge between the different trends and groups of Jews in Hungary with different religious beliefs”
– Szabó added, citing as an example not only the Semes bakery in Kőbánya, which now serves 400(!) different products, but also his former role as head of a kosher shop and the launch of a kosher fast food restaurant in the city center.
Celebrating in the company of his mother, family and several members of his community, he greeted the audience before receiving his award. In a terse and modest speech, László Győrfi expressed his special gratitude to his wife and to Rabbi Baruch Oberlander, one of the resurrectors of his spiritual roots. He thanked the former for her perseverance throughout their challenging life together, and the latter for his religious guidance and trust.
Győrfi, who also serves as the cantor of the Óbuda synagogue, quoted from the Hezekiah and encouraged his audience to try to live in the spirit of focusing on the good qualities of their fellow human beings, despite their obvious weaknesses, and to focus on those rather than dwelling on their negative qualities.
As he said, he wants to continue his work for his community in the spirit of the Scheiber Prize, and as an „integrating personality,” he wants to promote dialogue between the individual members of Hungarian Jewry, who are sometimes known for their less harmonious relations.
The Sándor Scheiber Prize is awarded to Hungarian citizens or Hungarians living beyond the borders of Hungary who have made outstanding contributions in the fields of Hebraism, Judaic studies, Jewish religious and cultural history, Jewish education, and the promotion of dialogue and tolerance between Jews and non-Jews.
