Over the past several decades, Rabbi Pinto has established himself as the most influential Jewish rabbi in the world
More than ten thousand people are expected at the event chaired by Chief Rabbi Yoshiyahu Pinto, which will be held on September 10, 2023 at the Hichal Menorah Stadium in Tel Aviv. On the program for this day, described as “the biggest Jewish event of the year”, will be thousands of closing readings of the book Zohar, a traditional prayer of forgiveness for the month of Elul and a music concert by the great Jewish singers. , Mordechai Ben David and Yishai Ribo, accompanied by a large orchestra and a choir.
The highlight of the event is expected to be the speech of Rabbi Pinto, who will come specially to Israel accompanied by his successor, his son, Rabbi Yoel Pinto. This year, the event, which has already become a tradition, will mark 30 years since the establishment of the “Shuva Israel” institutions under his leadership.
The most influential Jewish rabbi in the world
Over the past several decades, Rabbi Pinto has established himself as the most influential Jewish rabbi in the world. Its institutions are represented by around a hundred centers, in the United States, Europe and Israel, as well as in Morocco and the United Arab Emirates. His lessons and advice have become popular with a very wide range of communities around the world: Jews, Christians, Muslims, religious and secular. On the one hand, he advises billionaires and international celebrities, and on the other hand, ordinary people who are looking for advice, inspiration and direction.
Its institutions around the world distribute food and offer aid to the needy, at a cost of hundreds of millions of dollars a year. For Rabbi Pinto, this is one of the main objectives of his institutions: to help, assist and support those who do not have the means to survive on their own. Rabbi Pinto’s classes are broadcast live on social media and selected websites, in dozens of languages, and they garner millions of views.
A million followers and a personal relationship with top politicians
Rabbi Pinto is estimated to have over a million followers and students worldwide. And he maintains, with thousands of them, a personal and direct relationship thanks to the various social platforms managed by his students. “Shuva Israel” is considered the richest Jewish community in the world, joined by billionaires and businessmen from many countries, who do not take a step without first consulting Rabbi Pinto.
He is personally in contact with many senior government officials around the world and recently met with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen, Israeli Transportation Minister Miri Regev, Israeli Minister of Energy, Israel Katz and senior officials from the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The course he gave in Dubai a few months ago brought together Israeli billionaire Eyal Waldman, president of the Waldo Holdings investment fund, and many local businessmen.
In Dubai, an official reception was organized in his honor by Sheikh Nahyan Bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Tolerance. He then met with a series of senior officials of the kingdom. He had a long meeting with Sheikh Saud Bin Saqr Al Qasimi, the current ruler of the emirate of Ras El Khaimah, one of the seven emirates of the United Arab Emirates. The meeting took place in the sovereign’s office.
Rabbi Pinto also met in Dubai with the following businessmen: Ahmed Sultan Bin Sulayem (Vice Chairman of the Board of the PK, Chairman of the Board and Senior CEO of the DMCC and Chairman of the Board of the Dubai Diamond Exchange), Atinirmal G. Pagarani (Chairman of the Board of Yogi Group), and many others.
The meeting with the American basketball player James LeBron
About a year ago, Rabbi Pinto met American basketball player James LeBron, the Los Angeles Lakers player. This is not the first time LeBron has consulted with Rabbi Pinto and the two are in regular contact. Last year, Rabbi Pinto met with a long list of businessmen and politicians around the world, including: Greek-American billionaire John Catsimatidis, Vice President of the French Parliament Roger Karoutchi, Honduran government leaders, senior Polish government officials (Government Secretary Tadeusz Kościński, Polish Senate President Michał Kamiński), the American billionaire involved in the creation of bitcoin, Brock Pierce, the Georgian businessman , Roman Pipia, Joseph Lipsey of Puerto Rico and the elected representative of the United States House of Representatives, Jimmy Gomez.
Recently, he also met with American billionaire Larry Meisel, founder of the Museum of Tolerance and president of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, as well as Jewish billionaire Jack Avital in New York.
Many ambassadors from around the world visit Rabbi Pinto at his home in Manhattan. Recently, he met with the Ambassador of the State of Guatemala to the United Nations, Luis Antonio Lam Padilla, the Ambassador of Slovakia to the United Nations, Michal Mlynár, and the Ambassador of Morocco to the United Nations, Omar Hilale. He also met in Israel with the American Ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, and in Morocco, with the Ambassador of the United Arab Emirates to Morocco, the Ambassador of France to Morocco, the Ambassador of Malta to Morocco and the Ambassador of Vatican in Morocco.
In Moldova, Rabbi Pinto met with Sergio Prudan, Minister of Culture and Tourism of the Republic of Moldova, and Vadim Krasnoselski, President of Transnistria. During his last visit to Israel, many personalities came to receive Rabbi Pinto’s blessing, including: the host Ofira Asayag, the singer Odeya, the former Miss Israel Linor Abargil, the daughter of businessman Rami Levy, Yafit Levy, child star Miki, founder of the fitness chain Sher Fitness, Sher Sadna, star of the reality show Big Brother, Bar Cohen and his companion Eliav, actor Omer Hazan, music producer Adi Leon, footballers Pini Balili and Sharon Mimer, Mayor of Rishon LeZion Assaf Daabul, lawyer Shai Elias, TV personality Adele Bespalov and her husband Match Abed, and others.
Rav Pinto advises the greatest
Personal meetings with the Swedish princess and African presidents
Märtha Louise, Princess of Norway and eldest daughter of King Harald V of Norway, accompanied by her fiancé, the shaman Durek Verrett, visited Rabbi Pinto in Manhattan last year. At the heart of this special visit, the princess asked to receive her blessing and advice on a
During his visit to Haiti, Rabbi Pinto met with Prime Minister Claude Joseph at his official residence in Port-au-Prince. He also met with the Minister of Commerce, Jonas Coffy, the Minister of Tourism, Myriam Jean, the Minister of Religious Affairs, the Director General of the National Police, Léon Charles, members of the cabinet, the Consul General of Haiti in New York , Jacques Lauture, the Haitian ambassador to the Dominican Republic, Smith Augustin, and the billionaire businessman, Amos Andre. In Guinea, Rabbi Pinto met with Guinean President Alpha Condé and Prime Minister Ibrahima Kassory Fofana.
An educational doctrine that combines conservatism and liberalism
In order to stay in touch with his students and followers, Rabbi Pinto made a habit of visiting the different centers of his institutions around the world. He visits dozens of different countries a year and gives courses attended by thousands of people.
Rabbi Pinto has written and published more than 100 books. Its educational approach advocates, on the one hand, conservatism and strict respect for Jewish law and tradition, and on the other hand, integrates a liberal line which transmits the message that nothing is black and white, everyone has their own personal story and assumes a unique role, and each of us came into the world to make, at our own level, our own contribution to the reparation of sins.
Rabbi Pinto does not hesitate to denounce illegitimate phenomena such as fortune tellers who spread lies. In his lessons, he emphasizes the duty imposed on parents and educators to act sensitively with children and allow them to grow in their own way. It promotes unity among all audiences and faiths, and its students and followers include ultra-Orthodox, secular, religious, women and men, Jews and non-Jews.
He does not officially intervene in Israeli politics, although politicians from both sides of the political spectrum consult him regularly. According to him, “politics is a deception, and we should be primarily concerned with doing good in the world, helping the needy, being kind to our friends and wives, caring for our children, studying Torah and praying, and live with optimism and confidence that everything will be okay.”
