Chief Rabbi of Russia Berel Lazar does not recommend Jews who ask him for advice whether to repatriate back in Israel.
In a interview with Interfax he explains that it is connected with great difficulties a Jew faces in Israel if he wants to observe traditions.
“Not long ago a man asked me to repatriate or not, and I told him that it is more important to preserve ourselves as Jews than to stick to original area of living. I advised him to base his decision on this argument and he stayed in Russia,” the Rabbi said.
He thanked Russian authorities for their good attitude to the followers of the Jewish tradition. “Since the USSR collapsed, the attitude to Jews has improved,” Lazar said.
He believes, “Vladimir Putin initiated real changes.”
“He made a revolution in everything referring to Jewish education, in particular, he instructed to equal yeshiva to a higher educational establishment,” the Rabbi said.
“Vladimir Putin gave us an opportunity to preserve ourselves as Jews and it is very valuable, especially on the back of the events in Israel,” Lazar stressed.
Speaking about negative image Israeli society has about repatriates from the former USSR, he stated that it was mostly formed by “non-Jews who have recently come to Israel.” “Non-Jews who constitute at least 40 per cent of repatriates commit the majority of bad deeds, which formed such a negative impression about “Russians,” Lazar believes.
(Source: Interfax)
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14 Responses
ye of course he said that, if he would have said anything different the kgbnick putin would have him locked up. if you see whats going on there any rational person would get out now
1) With all respect, I suggest the rav review parshas shelach, I think the meraglim had a similar idea.
2) With all respect, I suggest the rav read any report on anti-semitism in europe and the former USSR of the past 5 yearrs, and he will see it has only gotten worse.
3) With all respect, the land of Israel is the only place for JEWS, it goes without saying, not Russia.
Whether he is right or wrong, he has no credibility because it is so obvious he is just a shill for Putin.
NeveAliza.. I take exception to what you say about Daas Torah. What about the many Jews who moved to Israel and were killed by Arabs? The only difference is we know their yahrtzeit.
I think you guys all missed the point. When Jews emigrate from Russia to Israel, unless they already have a frum support system, they most often abandon religion altogether. It is outside Israel that such people are likely to stick with their own. In Israel, there is almost no Ashnkenazi ba’al teshuva movement for Israelis. but in America, where they don’t feel as comfortable (except for L.A.), they somehow find each other and stick together as Jews, often becoming more frum because of their contact with kiruv personnel.
NeveAliza.. You’re right.
rabbiofberlin, as usual, you can’t bear to see Israel and Zionism’s shortcomings exposed, so you castigate the poster of the opposing view.
With all due respect, what IS asisnine is your two comparisons:
The first is where you compared Jews being killed R”L, in an accident in chutz laAretz, to the thousands of innocent Jews maimed and murdered by the Arabs thanks, in part, to Zionism (and, in particular, their peacemakers). This is obscene to any rational observer since, of course, there are accidents in Israel, too, but only in Israel do “post-Jewish Jews” take pleasure in allowing Arab murderers to terrorize its population since it shows how “moral” these “post-Jewish Jews” are and how they so wonderfully “turn the other cheek” and deserve the world’s respect (which they so desperately seek as a substitute to their religion, they still do not get from the nations of the world).
And then you say there is no comparison between the 6 Million murdered by the Nazis YM”S and the thousands murdered under the Zionists’ watch in Eretz Yisrael.
What you failed to mention, however, is that Israel’s raison d’etre is to protect Jews since, their now soundly disproven theory goes, only with their own army can security be assured, whereas in Nazi Germany they were at the mercy of their host country.
You also neglected to mention, while on the topic, that the Zionists did not want “Palestine [to] be flooded with the old and undesirable [Jews]” so the various reshaim, in and out of Palestine, thwarted genuine rescue efforts of European Jews for mere political purposes. This is documented and has been discussed ad nauseum but you can’t seem to come to grips with recorded history.
It is inexcusable that a single drop of Jewish blood should have been shed in a terrorist attack in a “Jewish” State, much less that Israel has, G-d should have mercy, sustained numerous attacks.
And, as shmaltzy said, “When Jews emigrate from Russia to Israel, unless they already have a frum support system, they most often abandon religion altogether.”
This makes perfect sense. If you have a religious support structure, it is far easier to remain religious, especially when your new host country (Israel)’s culture is so decadent and removed from the Torah.
Also, outside Israel, religious life and practices is respected by the mainstream population, whereas Israeli secular culture has the added baggage of nihye kichal ha’amim.
Therefore, Rabbi Lazar is correct in maintaining that Jews should continue to reside where they will remain good JEWS, which, in this case, seems to be their home country of Russia.
A gimar Chasima Tova to all of klal Yisrael and may we all merit the geula Shileima bimheira viyameinu, Amein.
We have survived because we are spread out. If all the Jews were living in Poland in 1939, we would have lost 15 million, not a “mere” 6 million. If all the Jews were living in western Europe during the first Crusade, we might have disappeared.
Israel’s long term survival prospects don’t look very good. The viciously anti-Torah secular elite run the country. While the army conducts itself in a way the makes it clear that hareidim will never be welcomed except for a few “Jim Crow” type units, the elites are increasingly disinterested in defending the country. Israel has no propsect of defeating the rising force of Islam, and at least under current leadership, no way of living in peace with Islam.
So yes, preserving the Jewish communities in Russia is a good idea, now that for the first time in history (since the Russians conquered Poland 200 years ago), Russia is open and relatively friendly to Jews.
akuperma Most of the secular-elite-torah-hating Jews have made yeridah (leaving the land of gd), or their children have. The countries frum jews are reproducing and filling the land, the long term survival prospects are better in Israel for Jews than anywhere else. Gd’s destiny is for Jews to live in their homeland and it will occur, no matter what anyone says, thinks or arranges.
“Russia is open and relatively friendly to Jews”
Maybe this moment,,,have you checked out the past history..
Ms. NeveAliza, my logic for my argument is as follows:
Zionists have always claimed, since even before the founding of the State of Israel, that they need to have an Israel, even at the cost of Jewish blood (lots of it, R”L), as that, not G-d, is the only way to save Jewish blood.
Now, looking back at the inhuman atrocities that were perpetrated under their watch and at their passive and active attempts at thwarting rescue efforts of WW-II Jews, it becomes clear that, as the gedolim predicted, the Zionists created more problems than they think solved.
The Jews that died in Eretz Yisrael before Zionism cannot be compared to the deaths of Jews after Zionism for the simple reason that the Jews who died since Zionism died because of Zionist interference and/or lack thereof.
Regarding the hand of Hashem in history, you are stating the obvious and misstating the obvious. Yes, Hashem obviously decided that the events that happened should have happened; but that’s no reason for the Zionists (or the Arabs whom they inflamed) to be the shluchim.
Again, for a religion/ideology like Zionism to claim its raison d’etre as the protector of Jews, only to allow the needless slaughter of those same people, while they still encourage aliyah, is terribly wrong and galling and shows the abject failure of their ideology.
Putin’s “friendship” to the Jews is a front. If he persecuted the Jews, then he would never be able to get away with everythng his doing in re-igniting the cold war. He is challenging the U.S. and Israel on every front. He supplying nuclear tech to Iran, arms to Iran, Syria and Venezuela. He has thousands of troops in Georgia – a U.S. and US Israel ally. Since he is supposedly friendly to Jews, we are not making noise about it. Don’t be fooled. The Jews shuold get out of there.
#19,
Just so you know (and you probably won’t be too comfortable with this), but both the US and Israel supply the Arabs with weapons and cash handouts totaling hundreds of millions of dollars… so if you think that things like that are a factor you’re in trouble
NeveAliza..
“Many, many years ago my grandfather’s Rebbe didn’t recommend Jews to leave Poland for Israel. He listen to Daas Torah. We don’t know his Yahrzeit.”
What kind of nonsense is that?
In the 20s-30s 90% of the Jews that were leaving to America and israel were leaving Judaism.. Isnt the Rabbis job to insure the future of your soul..and not just merely to live another day?
To #20.
The US supplies weapons to Arab countries with the express conditon that they are not used against Israel or any American ally. The U.S. has to be diplomatic. Russia has no qualms about its weapons being used against Israel.